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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
April, 1938
teachers, leaders of classes, personal workers, distributors of tracts, radio messengers, hear this appeal afresh! Preach the cross. Exalt the blood. Their appeal is powerfully unique. This is true preaching. Real suc cess, whether you see the results or not, will follow. The appeal of the cross is never in vain. In the city of Glasgow, Scotland, a police man heard somebody weeping. He stopped, and discovered a four-year-old child sitting weary and tear-stained, on a doorstep. The boy was lost. When asked, he could not remember the name of the street where he lived. The kindly policeman named a number of well-known streets and hotels with no success. He was almost in despair when he suddenly remembered that in the heart of the city is what is known as “ The Cross.” “Well, my boy,” he said, “ do you know where ‘the Cross’ is?” Instantly the child’s face brightened. “ Yes, sir,” he said. “Take me to ‘the Cross,’ and I will find my way home.” Yes, that is the cry, unexpressed in words though it may be, but ever the deepest ex pression of human need emanating from souls who grope their way through the inky gloom in the hope of finding satisfaction of heart. Witnessing in the World That Crucified Him Thirdly, it is an appeal to the saved sinner. The Apostle Paul expressed this [ Continued on Page 178]
The story is told of three needy people who went to a church to find spiritual help. The first was a business man who had failed and was contemplating suicide. The second was a young man of wild habits and extravagant tastes who found his wages in sufficient and had planned to steal money from his employer. The third was a young woman of gay life who had been tempted from the pathway of virtue. The service began. The choir arose and sang a beautiful anthem about the building of the walls of Zion. The minister, after leading eloquently in prayer, delivered a well-thought-out sermon on the subject, “ Is Mars Inhabited?” Are we surprised that the hungry got no bread, and the needy found no help? How they probably would have leaped in response to the appeal of the cross! Instead, they all went their way with their deepest needs unmet. It is said that the man committed suicide, the boy finished up in a penitentiary, and the young woman went back to a life of sin and shame. Thank God the old message of the cross is not yet worn-out or threadbare! It is the only panacea for a world’s ills. It is an appeal that ever wends its way, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into hearts that are burdened with sin and crushed by the tempter. The Moravians sent some missionaries to Greenland. Finding the natives totally ignorant of the meaning of sin, guilt, right eousness, and justification, etc., they thought it well to begin by giving them some educa tion. The effort was so futile, however, and the result so discouraging, that they deter mined to quit. While waiting for a vessel, one of the missionaries thought he would test the accuracy of his translation of a portion of the gospel by reading to the natives. The words presented the appeal of the cross. After he had read of the suffer ings and death of the Lord Jesus, there was a strange silence. At length, the chief rose and said, “Read it again.” When the missionary had finished the second reading, the chief said, “What you read, is it true? You say it is true; then why did you not tell us at first? Now we know. You must not go. W e will listen to the words of the Man who suffered so much for us.” Yes, that is it. The message of the cross had again triumphed. Little wonder that Paul said: “ I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Preachers,
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,” hearing its message and re sponding to its call, have come to that blood- drenched, tear-soaked spot. With penitence of heart, and conscious of a need which has never been met elsewhere, they take one look at that cross. They gaze at the God-Man dying in shame and ignominy. But they look again, and lo, the cross is empty! The Holy Spirit works a miracle in their hearts, and a revolutionary trans action is effected in human lives. They con tinue their way along life’s pathway with faces aglow, hearts captured, lives trans formed ! They can never, never be the same again 1 The Incomparable Appeal of the Cross — Its Basis What is the explanation of this fact? T o those who refuse to believe, the whole thing is “ foolishness.” But to faith, this message is “the power of God unto salvation.” It is this appeal of the cross which makes the Christian message incomparable with all else. The cross is an eternal fact. Calvary must ever be central in God’s purposes with men. While “ religion” may make its appeal to the mind and to the emotions, and may result in pretty theofies or fanatical ex travagances, the appeal of the cross gets under the skin and reaches the inner shrine of the spirit. Here is an evangel which is so penetrating that it solves heart problems. It leads men to the place where they discover the , true significance of life, and find a solution for every problem which concerns their present lives and their eternal destiny. The appeal of the cross is threefold. First, it is an appeal to the justice of God. “ Upon what are you depending for your soul’s salvation?” an old Christian woman once was asked. “ Upon the justice of God,” she replied. That was good theology. The appeal of the cross finds its fundamental significance in the glorious eternal fact of propitiation for sin. All the claims of a righteous God have been fully satisfied through the aton ing blood of Calvary. There are two places, and two only, where sin must be dealt with finally and fully. The first is Calvary. The second is the Great White Throne. The first is the place of salvation. The second is the place of condemnation for all who reject the Christ of Calvary. Simple faith in Christ crucified and risen, and an honest acknowl edgment of His Lordship in the heart, en ables the believing sinner to sing: “ Payment God will not twice demand— First at my bleeding Surety’s hand, And then again at mine.” Meeting Universal Human Need Secondly, it is an appeal to the deepest need of the human heart. It is the gospel preacher’s great joy and confidence to real ize that he has been intrusted with a miracle- working message. Men may “ depart from the faith” ; “ seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons” may attack Christendom; the pulpit may be captured for anything and everything but its real message; yet it was never truer that where the appeal of the cross is presented in the power of the Holy Ghost, there may be found hungry hearts and eager spirits.
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