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is nevertheless bristling with the touch-me-not porcupine quills of national rights and privileges? Ah, but we need some serpent on a pole, some glittering object like the snake that has bitten, to which we can look and feel the self-life oozing out of us while healing and help from God chases the deadly virus from our veins and makes us new men and new women the round world over. Yes, yes, the world needs some advertisement of God that will persuade men everywhere to believe it, buy the remedy and live,— live individually, live in a community sense, a national sense, and then in the true love sense for all mankind,— to live internationally. But wait a moment; have we the money to buy the rem edy which the advertisement describes? When God’s goods are exposed for sale can we purchase them? Have we the price? My partners and I frequently sit around a council table to discuss the best interests of our business. Then policies are put forward by one and another. Often in these discussions after one of the men has been describing with enthusiasm some plan which he has carefully thought out for the advantage of the business, another of the group will bring his clenched fist down on the table in front of him with the emphasis of conviction while he exclaims, “I’ll buy that.” What does he mean, “I’ll buy that?” His eyes say it as his keen intelligence grasps the advantage. His fist says it as it expresses the energy of his whole body, and his ton gue tells the group that the whole man is convinced. But the form of expression is a peculiar one,—“I’ll buy that.” What does it imply? Why, it means that so convinced is he of the logic of that scheme that he proposes to pay whatever price it costs him in the business partnership to bring it about. He has made up his mind to put whatever resources of brain and brawn he has at command, back of that plan to make it a success. In short, he believes in that plan and proposes to “live by it” which is still another way of saying he believes in it. Now, he that cometh to God looking for a remedy for snake bite must “Believe that He is and that He is a re warder of them that diligently seek Him.” In other words, he must have the money in his purse to buy the cure. And my contention is that any man who, on seeing God’s Great Advertisement for the remedy of self, and reading it care fully, cries out with the same conviction that my partner does,—“I’ll buy that”—my contention is that that man has the money in his heart to buy God’s cure. In other words, when he says, “I’ll buy that” he means that he has received the gift of faith in the Infinite God and he im mediately plans with all his might to spend that faith on God and His plan of salvation. “I’ll buy that” is a good commercial way of saying, “I will believe God’s advertise ment as soon as I see it.” Dead in Selfishness and Sin. And now, how far along are we on the road of this dis cussion? We are convinced that we, with all the rest of mankind, are terribly snake bitten,—that we are so badly doped that mostly we don’t know what’s the matter with us and we would almost be persuaded that the trouble is all with the other fellow, except for that wondrous revela tion of Love found in the thirteenth chapter of Corinthians. In the light of that we are dead in selfishness and sin. Also, we know something of how to buy the remedy, once we see it. We know the source of faith and with that faith we can say if we will,—“I'll buy that” as soon as the advertisement appears and the remedy is disclosed. So then, may the gracious God, who has all these years
kept His servant at work upon advertisements, now give him the wisdom that cometh down from heaven, so to por tray Jesus Christ as God’s Great Advertisement, aye, and remedy too for the universal curse of Self or Sin,—-that His Word shall accomplish the thing that He pleaseth,— Amen! Long years after that terrible scourge of snakes in the wilderness and the miraculous advertisement of the serpent Saviour, in the city of Jerusalem by night, there came a gray bearded rabbi to a young man whose mother’s name was Mary and whose Father was the Living God. He came patronizingly, perhaps,—superciliously, maybe,—and cow ardly, some have said,-—nevertheless, he came. And to him, in all his imperfection of coming Jesus Christ poured out more of the deep things of God than to any other man in any other single instance since God began to talk to human beings. In the midst of the wonders of this disclosure, and after He had warned the aged Nicodemus that he needed a new birth in order to know anything about God’s working by His Spirit, Jesus said,— “As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wild erness; even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The Divine Layout for the Heavenly Advertisement And here, here, have we the divine layout (I may speak reverently to the men of my craft who understand the re lation of a preliminary layout to a finished advertisement), here is the divine layout for the Heavenly advertisement soon to be lifted up for all snake bitten men to read. Sketch it then, ye advertising writers of the world; show the mul titudes from all the nations, dying of the selfishness,—see them crying for relief. Then picture a man like Moses who has heard from God, lifting up a glittering brazen serpent like the deadly thing that had bitten the people. Put the text of the proclamation into your layout in good big readable type, caps and small letters, so as not to con fuse anybody. Then it is a lifted serpent and a word that promises healing to all who will look at it. Isn’t that a tremendous layout? Could anything be more fascinatingly attractive? Think of the shining serpent on the pole; think of the promise of the proclamation; think how easy it is to buy! And that is the layout which Jesus Christ is sketching to old Nicodemus, using the Old Testament incident with which he is so familiar,—“This, Nicodemus,” says our Lord, “is my Father’s plan of the greatest advertising and selling proposition for self-sick folk that this world has ever seen.” And even while He is speaking,—aye, within the space of a few moments, as God reckons time, the serpent on the pole fades out and a Cross appears in the dark scene of death,—a cross lifted up on the top of the hill of the skull, a cross, on which appears to faith, the form of the Son of man and the Son of God, thorn-crowned, dying,-¡¡¡dead. Ah, ’tis a matchless picture,—the Son of God who was made in the likeness of sin-bitten man, Himself sin-bitten with the sins of the whole world,—lifted up there as was Moses’ serpent, for all who will look. Aye, ’tis a tremend ous picture, and we reverently inscribe below it for the great advertisement, those words which immediately fol lowed the serpent message which He gave to Nicodemus, (Continued on Page 187)
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