September 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
543
T h e Id ea l C h ris t HE human race has but one pattern man. Jesus Christ holds th a t;position because He is the universal man. He has a unique relation to the whole human race. No other man who has ever lived could with perfect propriety call upon all men everywhere to follow Him. Why is it that although, as to the flesh, He was of the tribe of Judah, it has not prevented His . thoughts and actions being of universal significance? Is it not strange that there is nothing Jewish about Him? Find another Jew of whom this can be said 1V; His passion was for the human race. He was of no party or sect or race. He was above all. Moses was greatly revered, but in habits, views and position, he was a Jew. Socrates represents a purely Greek type of char acter. .Luther was the German type. Of all good and great men, it must’ be said that in tbeir virtues and faults they could only be understood by their own countrymen. Jesus is the one ideal man for all peoples of all ages. His character ' was perfectly balanced. We usually associate a certain temperament with a certain man, but we cannot attribute to Jesus any one temperament. As Philip Schaff says: “He combined the vivacity of the san guine temperament 'without its levity, the vigor of the choleric without its violence, the seriousness of the mel ancholic without its austerity,- the calmness of the phleg matic without its apathy. Hisi; virtue was healthy, manly, vigorous, yet genial, social and winning; never austere and repulsive; always in full sympathy with innocent joy and pleasure. His zeal never degenerated into passion, nor His constancy into obstinacy, nor his benevolence into weakness, nor His tenderness into sentimentality. His unworldliness was free from indifference and unsociabil ity, His dignity from pride and presumption, His affa bility from: undue familiarity, His self-denial from moroseness, His temperance from austerity. He com bined childlike innocence with manly strength, absorbing devotion to God with untiring interest in the welfare of man, tender love to the sinner with uncompromising sever ity against sin, commanding dignity with winning humil ity, fearless courage with wise caution, unyielding firm ness with sweet gentleness. He possessed the wisdom of the serpent and the simplicity of the dove. He was the most effective and yet the least noisy, the most radical and yet the most conservative, calm and patient of all reformers.” These are opposite traits of character, separated in imperfect men, but united in Christ, the Universal Man, the Son of God. There is but one way to account for the race having such a character. His deity must be acknowledged! If He were not more than man, what must be thought of the presumption and vanity of His mighty claims? “I am the light of the world,;”— “No man cometh to, the Father but by me.” ‘ . He is the ideal man because He is infinitely more than men. His inimitable character would remain an insoluble
mystery on any other premise than that He was “God manifest in the flesh.”
C and le stick s of Go ld “I f thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy dark ness become as the noonday" (Isa. 58:10). P ERHAPS one reason Christians are often in the dark is that they spend so much time looking IN instead of AROUND. It is when we try to help another find his way, that we get light on our pathway. The quickest way to lose our Own burden is to give a lift to our neigh bor who is tugging at his. ;! The passage quoted above gives us a great under lying principle of securing divine guidance and blessing to our souls. We fear that far too little emphasis is being placed upon it in the preaching of today. Do you feel that ybu are an obscure person, untalented and of.little account in God’s service? Here is the,way to “rise in obscurity.” “Let your light so shine that-men may see your good works” (Matt, 5:1b). It is within the power of the humblest souls to give “cups of cold water” in the name of jdsus. (“Inasmuch qs ye hove done{it untq one o f the least of these my brethren,” said our Lord, “ye have done it unto me.” “O, think not since th’ou’rt not called to work In mission field of some far distant clime, That thine is no grand nussidn; every deed That comes to thee in God’s allotted time Is just the greatest deed that thine could be, Since God’s high will appointed it to thee.” Would you dispel your own darkness? Take God’s Word and start enlightening the darkness of some af flicted soul. As you study to be a blessing to another, the sun will burst through the dark clouds overhanging your own head, and you will find yourself in noonday brightness. One of Whittier’s poems describes an abbot in a monastery, kneeling at the altar. He is disturbed by the wail of a wretched woman outside. • He goes to the win dow and sees her with her wrinkled hands clasped in pathetic appeal. Her child is held by the Moors for ran som. She begs for money to redeem him. “What can I give?” the priest answers. “We have nothing. We are always giving. I will pray for you.’,’ It is but mockery to this..wretched mother. “Oh, give me the silver candlesticks from, the altar,” she begs., And the abbott recalls God’s Word, takes down the silver can dlesticks and hands them out the, window— . ’ “And as she vanished down the linden shade, He bowed his head and for forgiveness prayed. So the day passed, and when the even came, He woke to find the chapel all aflame, And dumb .with grateful wonder to behold Upon the altar— candlesticks of gold ”' 5
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker