The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-06-30

LIE prospect Is
presented in verse %. "The Son Of
man shall come in the glory of his
Father with his angels" To deviate
from any Of these three truths Is to
descend from the level of "the things
that be of God" to the plane of ''the
those that be of men,"
Peter ignorantly opposed the second
of these essential truths and received
the rebuke recorded in verse %. Get
thee behind me, Satan, for thou art
an offence unto me; for thou SAVIOUR
est not the things that be of God, but
those that be of men,.
From the viewpoint of the purely
human-'the things that be Of men,"
the suggestion of Peter carries nothing
with 1t to meet so severe rebuke as
the Lord administered to him. pity
myself" or BE 1t far from thee" Is
the impulsive expression of self-in-
terest and self preservation, both the
Masters and his own. 1t is altogether
In harmony with "the things that be
of men," But as 1t Is written, "My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the
above the earth so are my ways above
your ways and my thoughts above
your thoughts"
''The things that be of men, even
religious things, are expressed In terms
of self interest. "Pity myself" said
Peter, "Get thee behind me-" replied
Jesus, thou art an offence unto me-"
Then said Jesus unto His disciples,
IF any man will come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me-"
The things that be of God are best
learned at Calvary. In Its message,
death and resurrection are the domi-
nant notes. THE Son of man must go
to Jerusalem and be killed and be
raised again." If any man will follow
Him, he must go the same way, the
way Of the cross and the tomb and
the resurrection morning. IF grain
of wheat fall into the ground and die,
1t bringeth forth much fruit" Apart
from death there can be no resurrec-
ton into "newness of life."
No man can realize the best until
he has let himself go. Human nature
shrinks from this. 1t is the acknowl-
edgment of failure, the confession Of
the inability of self, and also Of re-
lance upon Another. In "the things
that be Of men," large place Is given
to notices, laws, standards, ideals,
symphonies and so forth, but "the
things that be of Cod belong to a
different realm. IF any man will
come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me-"
The first meaning of the cross is
death. The cross crosses us out so
that Another may occupy the place
formerly occupied by self. This is
the denial of self, a different matter
from self-denial which is practiced
during Lent or on other occasions, and
which fits easily into the things of men.
To be a Christian is not weak SEN
timental sort of a thing; Ii Is real,
vital, fundamental. 1t involves n
change of outlook and new concep-
ton of life.
The cross of Christ was inevitable
to Him because of His identity with
us. He must go to Jerusalem and
die. The merited goal Of the human
race Is death In all its implications.
The Son of God became the Lamb of
God that He might put away sin and
overcome death. BY faith we may
behold Him bearing our sins In His
own body on the cross and there put
ting them away forever.
But more than that, He Is In His
death and resurrection, the forerunner
of q great multitude which no man
can number, who have taken the same
view of life as He did. They have
taken up the cross and followed Him.
In them. God has made the death and
resurrection life of Christ so real and
effective that they can assert with
Paul, II am crucified with Christ,
nevertheless live, yet not but Christ
liveth In me-" This is supernatural
work wrought In the soul by the power
of God. Until this miracle is per-
formed the genius of the Christian re-
ligion cannot be understood, Christian
experience cannot be satisfactory, nor
can Christian theology or philos-
onhv no huilt nm