The citizen., 1920-07-01

the present claim
Of Christ upon them2 Men, who care
fully consider and discharge conscien-
tiously other obligations that devolve
upon them, often fail to regard the
obligation that rests upon them to do
something with Christ, who rightly OBJ
obtrudes himself upon them.
Whether a man likes 1t or not, he
must do something with Jesus Christ.
He must either accept Christ by faith
as his own personal Saviour or reject
him. There is no middle position he
can take. Jesus himself settled this
when he said: "He that Is not with
me is against me-"
To assume to take a neutral posi-
tion toward Christ In view Of this
plain word of his, is to go contrary
to Christ's statement Of the truth,
that there is no neutral ground. Why,
then, should one attempt to put of
his decision concerning Christ by the
sophistry that he Is neutral toward
him? 1t is simply an attempt to de-
lay q decision that must be made some
day. Christ at once places those who
assume this position on the side of
those who are against him. and so.
though one says: II refuse TO commit
myself further than to say I am neu-
tral toward Christ" Christ himself
says: "There is no neutral ground.
you are against me-" The so-called
ileutral position with this fact so
clearly stated is seen to be an un-
tenable one.
There are, then. just two classes Of
people In the world, those who are
against Christ and those who are for
him. In which class are your Are
you one who is trusting him as your
Saviour and are, therefore, with him..
or are you one who has never taken
this step Of faith and so are against
him7 '''''.sasA
II behooves us to determine definite
ly our relation to Christ, because 80
much depends upon II. II It Ia provt-
dent for us to provide for our tenn
poral needs, II certainly Is provident
for us to make provision for our spir-
itual needs and these can be met only
in Christ. He alone. meeting every
spiritual need. satisfies the human
heart.
At one time after Christs resurrec-
midst Of his disciples. the doors be-
Ing shut This incident well Illus
trates how Christ presses his claims
upon men< There is no way Of shutting
him out of ones presence; no doors OF
life can keep him out. Business may
seem to be a door that should shut
out from a man the claims Of Christ
upon him. But try IT and see II by
immersing yourself In business you
can altogether avoid Christ. II may
be that you VIII live your life in busi-
ness as II there were no Christ. but
to thus ignore him does not by any
means relieve you Of the fact Of his
existence and his claim on you. He
Is there. silently there. with you at
your business. You date your ledger
and your letters in recognition Of him.
do not say in honor Of him, but in
recognition Of him. for he Is the sig
nifcance Of the date that heads your
letter and on your ledger keeps your
business transactions so that you can
keep TRACK q them. s.'-'l,r's'lY,'S'
Then. too in various other WAYS and {
places, as well as in business, Christ
evidences himself. The land Is dotted
with churches and other institutions
that speak loudly OF him. How can
you ignore that verse Of Scripture
that greeted you today, as you rode in
your automobile out on the country
highway? You say some religious
crank put II there. Well. grant H. but
mark you, though a religious crank
may have put II there that which you
read is the Word OF God and n is
5oeal with Christ.
On earth there Is scarcely a place
'ou can go TO get away from the fact
hat Christ has chim upon you. He
$ preached on the street corner, In
gospel halls and churches. Go to the
Stands OF the sea or bury yourself
mong some uncivilized tribe. and II
'hrist's missionary is not there. he
Don VIII he for the genius OF Chris
lanity Is that ID Is 10 be preached and
ne preachers are TO go to the utter
lost parts OF the earth TO proclaim
he glad tidings OF Chrlst.s salvation
Mark you well. that 10 wnora
hrists claim upon you does not ra-
eve you OF your responsibility IN.