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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1916)
T!5!f!jJ55?3JVi ot-vyrwi'" " - - The Odmmoner :V0: 16, NO. 11 16 ?"?. tlvo oxamplo, Ho must bo first a Son. It is not noccBBary to rely upon Ills birth, -upon His mi racles, or ovon upon His resurrection, to prove His claim to sonship. In fact, the natural process of reasoning is to confirm the Bible account of His birth, His miracles, and His resurrection by showing what He said, what Ho did, and what Ho was. When Ilo is understood, nothing said of Him will seem impossible. Ho is a fact which can not bo disputed the greatest fact of his tory. That a moro man should have said what Ho said, should have dono what He did, and should havo lived and died as Ho lived and died is incomprehensible. Reared in a car penter's shop; without contact with the sages of other lands and without knowledge of the sages dead, except as He gained it from the Old Testament, Ho, at the ago of thirty, an nounced His mossiahship, gathered a few dis ciples about Him, set forth a code of morals surpassing anything known boforo surpassing any code that the non-Christian world can formulate today and then was crucified. And yet from this beginning His religion spread until thousands of millions havo become His followers and millions have boon willing to diq rather than surrender tho faith which Ho put into their hearts. Plere is One who, for 1900 years, has exerted an Increasing influence ovot tho hearts and minds and lives of men Ono who wields mbre power today than ever before! How can it bo explained? It is not a matter to scoff at; the question, "What think yo of Christ?" is not a question to be brushed aside; it is a question that must be answered. IT IS EASIER TO BELIEVE HIM DIVINE THAN TO EXPLAIN IN ANY OTHER WAY HIS WORDS, HIS LIFE, AND HIS DEATH. And the same conclusion is reached by an other courso of reasoning. The work to be done was more than a man's task. No man, aspiring to bo Cod, could save his fellows from their own selfishness and sin, fortify them against tho temptations that come with appe tite and passion, and bring them into harmony with tho dlvlno will. It required A GOD, CON . DESCENDING TO BE A MAN, to work in the human heart that continuing miracle which is witnessed when one begins to love the things ho hated, and to hato tho things ho loved when ono who, before tho change, would havo sacri ficed a world for his ambition, stands ready, after the change, to give his life for a principle and finds pleasure in making sacrifice for his convictions. (From The Fruits of the Tree.) THE CHRIST OF TODAY Measure Him by tho task which He camo to perform it was not a man's task. Measure Him by tho record He has made. Why, if He was but a man, has not our civilisation produced another of His kind? Why are even his enemies corapollod to admit tho magic of His name and the wonder-working influence of the philosophy Ho taught? Why are His words as potent today as whon tho fishormon of Galilee became his disciples as convincing as, they were when "tho common people heard Him gladly" upon the Mount of the Beatitudes? Aro you in doubt about his power" to perform miraclcB when Ho walked among men? He is performing them today. The Christ who can today open tho oyes of a young man, who sees nothing but tho body and knows nothing but tho pleasures that come through tho flesh the Christ who can open the eyes of .such an one to tho larger vision of tho spiritual life could havo opened the oyes of the physically blind. Do you question His power to raise the dead? Go into any rescue mission and hear tho testimony of those who, after years of dissipation and of crime, havo come under the influence of His grace and havo been born again; behold tho change the Christ who can take a man from tlie gutter, one who has fallen so low that even his own flesh and blood have abandoned him, and lift him up, cleanse his heart and fill it with a passion for service such a Christ could break tho bonds of tho tomb. (From The Making of a Man.) CHRIST THE GROWING FIGURE Christ is the growing Figure of all time; thejstory of His life touches tho hearts of men and women wherove it is told, and it is being -translated Into every tongue. (From The Fruits of the Tree.) CONVERSION Conversion, as I understand it, is surrender of one's self to God 'Obedience to tho first com mandment. It is putting the kingdom of Oofk and his righteousness first. And how long does it take to be converted? Not longer, I rejoice to believe, than it does to reject God. It does not take longer to be converted to righteousness than to bo converted to sin. It takes but an instant for an honest man to be converted into a thiof ;Just tho instant in which ho decides to steal. It takes just an instant for a law-abiding man to become a murderer. And so it takes but an instant for the heart to surrender itself to its Maker and pledge obedience to God. A man may spend weeks weighing the question before deciding to steal, but the decision to steal is made in a moment; a man may harbor re venge for months and brood over a real or imagined wrong, but the decision is made in a moment. And so a man may consider for years whether he will change his course, but it takes but a moment to resolve "I will arise and go to my father." (From The First "Commandment.) ! ' . . , . PRAYER If God is a Spirit, and we worshin Hi spirit and in truth, it is only natural that L should bo some means of communication h tween Him and His worshippers. Christ tauEht that such a line of communication could bo tablished, and no one will dispute it who iff learned Iiqw to pray. nas It is not necessary that I should be able to or plain how, in olden times, the prophets snake as the Lord commanded them, or how the Bihin was written by inspiration; man could see thl lightning's flash and feel the shock long beforn he understood the laws which govern the action of that wonder-working fluid which we call elec tricity; so, until I have more complete knowl" edge of the subject, I am content to know that there is an unseen Power which can speak peace to the troubled heart and renew the flaggine zeal sometimes manifesting ' itself in the "still small voice," sometimes pouring itself out in a Pentecostal flood. (From The Fruits of the Tree.) THE LIVING SPRING .ff LOVE To me a spring is the most fascinating fact in nature. It is the best representation of the ideal life, just as the stagnant pool is the best illus tration of a selfish life. The pool receiving the surface water from the sloping sides around it and, giving forth nothing, at last becomes the center of disease and death. There is nothing more repulsive than a stagnant pool, except the selfish life which it so properly represents. The spring, on the contrary, pours forth its continuing flood of that which refreshes and invigorates. There is nothing more inspiring than a spring, except a human life built upon the plan of the spring. AND WHY IS A SPRING A SPRING,? BE CAUSE IT IS CONNECTED WITH A RESER VOIR WHICH IS HIGHER THAN ITSELF r it is the means through which the water from above finds an outlet. 'And what has Christ done by his coming?1 He has connected man with the Heavenly Father, so that the goodness of God may flow out through him to a waiting world. This is what ChTlst has done for mul titudes and what he can do for all. He can tako the frailest, weakest mortal and, by bring ing him into living contact with the source of life and of light and power, make him an im portant factor in the world's work. (From The First Commandment.) SPIRITUAL POWER , -- If we measure man in units of horse power he is not as strong as some of the beasts about him. If we measure him in units of intellectual power we soon find his limitations; but when we measure him in units of spiritual power there is no arithmetic which can compute his" possi bilities. When a boy I used to read how'wicked cities might have been saved by a few righteous men; I can understand it better now Cities" can be saved today, and countries as well, by the spiritual power which begins with a few and spreads until the whole body politic is aroused. It is only when we understand the spiritual power of man that we comprehend the lines of the song: "I know of a land that is sunk in shame, Of hearts that faint and tire, But I know a Name, a Name, a Name, That can set that land on fire." The great need of the world today is the spiritual power necessary for the overthrow of evil, for tho establishment of righteousness and for the ushering in of the era of perpetual peace; and that spiritual power begins in the surrender of the individual to God. It com mences with obedience to the first command ment. I am glad to press upon your considera n commandment "Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me;" or, as Christ phrased it, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy Si'.. Twf iS tUe !!r8t and great command ment. When one obeys this commandment, he BJn X0???" tonunderstand and obey the sec ond, "which is like unto it" "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." He who obeys the two will be neither barren nor unfruitful. (From The First Commandment.) God is love, and Christ was both the evidence of love and the supreme illustration of it. The Man of Galilee gave the world a new definition of love. The world had known love before husbands had loved their wives, and wives their husbands; parents had loved their children and children their parents; and- fridnd had loved friend. But here Was a love as boundless as tho sea a love whose limits were so far-flung that no one could travel beyond its bounds. Love is, enlightened it is not blind,. as some would have us believe. It penetrates into the dark places into the prisons where light and sympathy can be carried; it discovers the sick to whom kindness can be shown; it discerns latent power in those unknown to fame; it de tects the weak points in the armor of boast ing strength. Love begets love: heart answereth unto heart. "We love him because he first loved us," has been said of all whom the world has ever loved. Love is a growing force because it is the one weapon for which there is no shield. Thought looks up to love as the flower opens to the sun. When navies no longer mock the thunder with their roar; whon armies .np . more shake the earth with their tread, "and the battle flags are furled" love's roll call will still be sound ed; love will marshal increasing hosts and lead them into-a higher arena in which the energies will be employed in saving rather than in de stroying, and in which lif6 wiil be round in stead of lost. (From The Fruits of the Tree.) . FAITH Faith is the spiritual extension of the vision; it is the moral sense which reaches out toward . the throne of God and takes hold upon those verities which the mind can not. grasp. The great things of the world have been ac complished by men and women who had faith enough to attempt the seemingly impossible and to trust to God to open the way. Faith is a heart virtue; doubts of the mind will not disturb us if there is faith in the heart. Faith, in the triumph of truth, because it is truth, has ever been an unfailing source of cour age and power. Faith leads us to trust the om nipotence of the Ruler of the Universe, and to , put God's promises to the test. Faith is as necessary to the heart of the indi vidual as it is necessary' to world-wide peace. What can equal the consolation that comes from reliance upon the care of Him who gives beauty to the lily, food to the fowls of the air, and di rection to all? "He, who from zone to zone, . Guides from the boundless sky thy certain lHgmi In the long way that I must tread alone Will lead my steps aright." (From The Fruits of tlie Tree.) " FORGIVENESS Forgiveness is the. test of love.( . At no other point is the contrast more sliargv .drawn between the precepts, of Christ ana u teachings of the. philosophers of the non-oiu 9- s t .i