The Pleasantville press., 1924-02-20

against. And to
intensity the force of its meaning the
Scriptures add the word s"such."
Such contradiction of sinners against
Ellis teaching? His appeal? His invi-
tation Himself.
There you have Christ and the un-
saved man in startling contradiction.
Christ has said something. Sinners
have contradicted it. Christ has given
the answer to a crying need. Sinners
have answered again. Christ has an
nounced truth. Sinners have denied 1t.
Christ has made a claim. Sinners
have disputed it. Christ has called to
peace. Sinners have determined upon
strife. All this He has endured.
With this Scripture before us, who
could claim that there is agreement or
nearly agreement between the natural
man and Christ? Who could say that
the declaration is merely concerning
neglect or omission? No, the sinner
is answering in protest. The call is
genuine and the sinner is rejecting it. Is
he rejecting the call? Then he is re-
jecting the Christ. Himself who
gave it.
To deny that the sin-cure He has
provided is effective and that the call
to accept Him is genuine, and then
TO contend for the greatness of the
character of Jesus and the power OF
His teaching and example is to deny
the truth concerning the invitation to
the sinner and at the same time to
manufacture in ones own mind an i'm
aginary person and then call that i'm
agnary product by the endearing
name Jesus. What If in that imag-
mary character thus produced there
may be some elements of truth, when,
all the while they are mingled with
other elements of downright false
hood Certainly its chief characteris-
tic is that il is manufactured product
Of human imagination.
God gave His only begotten Son."
but this procedure rejects the gift and
proceeds forthwith to make substi-
tute for it.
That character is man-made. 1t Is
a human idol. You cannot rate Jesus
as a child of questionable parentage,
Or Is person TaTer nofeedf 4 ! as sd.
perior sage, or still later as a martyr,
or yet later as a recoverer from sus-
pended animation, unless you are
willing to contend for your ability to
manufacture This imaginary character
In your own Imagination and substi-
tute il for the revealed Jesus. To
substitute 1t for Him who was born
of the virgin, who is the Truth; who
gave Himself to the death for us that
He might redeem us from all iniquity;
and who actually, literally rose again
from the dead for our justification. 1t
is Revelation versus Imagination.
Men must accept the Christ re-
vealed or else place themselves in the
position where they can be successful
ly accused of being vain enough to
prefer the character they invent in
their own minds-that, or else outright
infdels.
out Of pictures gathered from
cathedrals, or out of pictures drawn
from ambitious poets, or out of pic
lures drawn from an overwrought
dream Of ease and indulgence one may
combine in his imagination a charac-
ter which to its contriver appears
supernal but it is only an idol. No
clay or metal is in it; 1t is construct
ed of gray matter But, to its con-
triver at least, it is real.
A man may, with a measure Of con-
tentment, contend that he does not
contradict the imaginary character he
has so invented, he may even claim
that he adores it but cleared and dis
tnguished from all such stands this
ONE-actual, personal historic, living,
calling. And he condemns the thought
Of a competitor. In this regard the
slogan of the faith is lone Lord By
what reasoning, for instance, could one
speak Of the Christ Of today as sep
arated from the Christ of Calvary
And this is the Christ we mean
when we speak of contradicting Him
The vision must be penetrating enough
/
standing ever in the path with holy
insistence demanding Of men on earth
an answer to His call. Now, the cry
Of the demons when He was here in the
flesh, what have we to do witt
Thee?" was born Of the same spirit
Of rejection as the cry Of the human
mob, Away with Him, cruelty Him.
Both answer again, both deny, boil
dispute His claim, both strive agains
Him, though on the surface the on
savors of Indifference and the othe
Of combat. Real Christianity coul'
not thrive on the atonement consid
cred as martyrdom, or on faith con
sldered as expediency, or on Jesu
Christ as a competer for fame anon
men. 1t must see the actual author
ity-wielding Christ, and the actua
MISUNDERSTANDING sinner.