284
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
August, 1935
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Hast thou no scars? No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand? I hear thee sung as mighty in the land, I hear them hail thy bright ascen dant star, Hast thou no scar? Hast thou no wound? Yet I was wounded by the arch ers spent, Leaned Me against a tree to die, and rent By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned, Hast thou no wound? No wound? no scar? Yet, as the Master shall the ser vant be, And pierced are the feet that follow Me, But thine are whole— can he have followed far Who has no wound nor scar? — Author Unknown.
the CROSS?
THE MARKS
B y WILL H. HOUGHTON Chicago, Illinois
“The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).,
Christians to present Jesus Christ to the world today —r and to present Him as Saviour. And if that is the mission of Christianity, I wonder whether those out side are not expressing, perhaps inaudibly, very much the same doubt that troubled Thomas, “Except I shall see the print of the nails, the marks of a crucified Christ. I will not believe.” As we think of the declaration of Thomas, we think of that verse from the. pen of the Apostle Paul, Galatians 2 :20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Is it true ? “I am crucified with Christ.” I have been crucified with Christ. That is true. That is a judicial fact; that is true in the reckoning of God. I died with Christ on the cross. It is not for one Christian to exhort another Christian to become
I would not have you think for a minute that I am commending Thomas in this question of his concerning the Person of the Lord Jesus. I should like to suggest to you, however, that this question Thomas raised concerning the Lord Jesus is the question raised by every doubting Thomas concerning the followers of the Lord. Just as Thomas was saying concerning Christ. “I will not be convinced He is the Christ, until I see the marks of the cross, until I see the print of the nails,” the unbelieving
Dr. Houghton
Thomases today are saying to every disciple, “Are you a follower of the Lord Jesus, a follower of the Man who went to the cross? Where are the marks of the cross? Except I shall see the print of the nails, I will not believe.” Thomas is asking for the wound-prints of the Lord Jesus. There is something distinctive about the Son of God. Here is a Man who has been to the cross and who bears in His body the marks of the cross. And here the followers of Christ are saying: “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas replies, in effect, “How do you know you have seen the Lord? Did He have on Him the marks of the cross ? Except I shall see those distinguishing marks, the print of the nails, I will not believe.” S earch ing Q uestions There is a great deal of Christianity in the day in which we live. There are churches with Christian companies scattered all over this land of ours and in most of the other lands. Yet there is a great deal of confusion accompanying Christianity, questions as to what it is, where it came from, what it is supposed to do, what is its particular mission. I suppose every one of us believes that it is the mission of [This informal address by the President of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago zvas delivered to the students of the:Bible Institute of Los Anget.es when Dr. Houghton was in Southern California on his first trip to the Pacific Coast after his acceptance of his new position. —E ditor .]
crucified with Christ. I have been—every Christian car, say it. The weakest and frailest believer can say: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” This latter statement is the place of exhortation. Is it true that this life I now live in the flesh—this life I now live today in school, not by and by when I have my diploma and I go out in Christian service—is lived “by the faith of the Son of God” ? We are thinking of the life of victory and triumph that is to be ours in the foreign field,; as pastors or evangelists. But what about the life I now live in the flesh—these contacts in school, the way in which I conduct myself in social relations and in the home? “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Is that true ? T ragedies in F undam entalism We consider ourselves orthodox. I am talking very frankly to an out-and-out fundamentalist gathering, I am talking to those who say they believe the Bible, all the Bible, who- ¿ay they believe in a crucified Saviour, One who was rejected and scorned and put to death and who rose again arid Is coining again. We believe we hold the best things, and we do' Hold the best things. But believing the best
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