The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-08-30

SO ample OF ohristlah-
ity in Stephen.
Observe the two fundamental prin-
ciples of Christianity, us opposed to
all of mems religion: ID A man Is
glorifed in heaven and 60 God Is
dwelling in a nan on earth.
Jesus" is our Lords name as nan
and in every instance in which Scrip
tare speaks of His eXaltatlon 1t men-
tons simply that human name to
emphasize the fact that He is exalted
in His humanity. There is d man
in the gloryl 1t is the same man
who died for your sins. He Is there
in the same body of flesh and bones"
in which He died, and showed Himself
alive after the resurrection, and His
exaltation is the proof of His finished
work: "When He had by Himself
purged our sins, He sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high"
tHeb. l :3).
o soul, no richer interest In the
heavens could you have! He who was
Of Il cross, beneath the load of your
sins, is now In heaven without your
sins, having borne their penalty, de-
livering you from their guilt and put
ting them away from the sight of God
forever.
The second great distinguishing
mark of Christianity is that God, by
His Spirit, dwells in the Christian. In
response to the prayer of the Lord
Jesus the Holy Spirit takes up His
abode in him, making a temple of his
body and thus forever sealing him as
Gods own possession. And thus, dwell
Ing in you, He yearns to possess you
entirely and to fill you with Himself.
And the Spirits fullness waits for
your yielded life-waits 70" you to pre-
sent wholly to God that which is His
by every right that can be named.
Behold this Spirit-filled man
Stephen Cooked steadfastly toward
heaven . . and saw Jesus" ALI,
this is the Spirits ofiiee-work that
He joys to do! "He shall glorify me-"
said Christ, "He snail take of mine
and shew it unto you" If He fills
and dominates your life, He will do
this n thing: He viii turn your eyes
away from all things else and fix them
upon that glorified Man in heaven.
Never mind the Outlook" The Holy
Spirit is concerned with the %"uplook."
If you are looking up, the outlook is
always good.
Christianity provides the heart with
an obiect-the object that Gods own
heart has found in that Blessed One,
who fills all the heavens with His
glory. And by Il thousand voices God
is calling us to behold and to discov-
er what He sees and what He has
found in Christ alonel This is the
essence of Christianity: absorption
with the glorified Man who died to
save you and to have you with Himself
In His glory.
How many, alasi are trying to be
Christians without Christ?
Mark now the blessed results of this
occupation with Him. See the triumph
and joy they are missing, who have
not Christ before their hearts.
OF Stephen it is written that "all
they that sat in the Council beheld his
face as it had been the face of an
angel"
You cannot look at Christ and re-
main the man you were. You cannot
gaze at glory without rejecting it in
your face upon the moral gloom
around you. Yea, tive all, gazing as
in a mirror upon the glory Of the Lord
with unveiled face, are changed into
the same image from glory to glory"
I'll Cor. 3:1S).
Oh, Christian, be constantly 'look-
ing unto Jesus" and look and look
again. The world is waiting to see
Him, but it can see Him only as He
Is reflected in your face.
And see how that vision of Christ
rendered Stephen altogether superior
to his circumstances. Trying circum-
stances indeedl An angry mob stoH-
ing him to death. | hear lei speak
of being under the circumstances"
Why be under the circumstances? The
Stephens have these under their feet,
where they belong.
Then see how this Spirit-flled man
spent his dying breath in imitation Of
the Lord Jesus. "Father, forgive
them,' was His cry, and Stephens,
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge"
Occupation with Him must lead to
the imitation of His ways.
The ideal Christian is habitually oc-
cupied with the Christians Ideal.