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WE SHALL SEE HIM.: DR. CHAPMAN'S SUNDAY SERMON. The Delightful Hope of Every Chris* tian is io Behold the Radiant Face of Jesus. New Yokk City.?The following sermon is one prepared for publication by the Rev. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, America's best known evangelist, who is now preaekfng to overflowing congregations in tins cny. It is entitled "A Vision of His Face," and is founded on the text. Rev. xxii: 4, "And thev shall see Ilis face." 1'he Apocalypse, or Revelation, as it is more frequently called, is supposed to have been written A. D. 93 to 97, and thus for 1800 years the Christian world has been living in the hope and inspiration of this text of Scripture. The glad cry of the faithful everywhere has been: "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when 1 awake with Thy likeness."?Psalm xvii: 15. I wish we might see Him now. We have had hints of His beauty, and little glimpses of His glory, but oh, to behold Him! We are greatly indebted to the artists of the world for what they have shown us of their vision of His grandeur. "Christ Refore T1' - -" _ r/A ,0j1 f li.? ,i little jrnaie was a ov ~ {fill, when she looked upon it wanted to be ifted up that she might untie His hands. Hoffman's "Christ in the Garden" is sueh a masterpiece that one can not look upon it without ha\ing his emotions stirred to the very depths. Paintings have certainly done their work. They nave stirred the imaginations of the people. They have stropglv impressed the beauty of His character upon hearts everywhere. They have fixed tne thoughts of men upon Him. * They have drawn the Christian nearer to Him, and they have done much to stimulate fellowship with Him fdwajrs. Some, indeed, have been won to Christ by simply looking upon them. Count Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravian settlement, said I that the deenest impression that was ever J made on his life caine to him when looking UQpn a picture of the sufferings of Christ. He saw these words underneath: "I did all this for thee; what hast thou done for Me?" And yet, valuable as they arc, they arc | not to be relied upon because they arj not ancient enough. The early Christians shrank from any material presentation ot a human Christ, and thus it is that art, as we have it to-day, has passed through cer- j tain definite stages. In the earliest age Christ was presented by the use of symbols. The representation of the fish was to draw attention to Him who made men fishers of other men. The drawing of a vine was to draw the attention to Him who said, "I am the vine." The picture of the cross was supposed to fasten the thoughts of the people upon Him who was its willing victim. The second stage of art was the use of Old Testament types. In the picture of Moses striking the rock, one could see a representation of Christ, who said: "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." In the sacrifice of Abraham both the love of God in the gift of His Son, and the love of the Son in the gift of Himself ehone forth. In the three children in the fiery furnace there is a perfect representation of the Son of God seen in the form of the fourth, "which was like unto the Son of God Himself." In the third stage of art New Testament allusions were used, and a shepherd became a picture of Christ, who was "the Good Shepherd," the "Great Shepherd" I and the "Chief Shepherd." In the eighth century men began to paint His likeness as they conceived it, but it is easy to understand that these representations could not be reliable because everv trace of His physical appearance was lost. Not a syllable in the Gospels or the Epistles tells us how He looked when He walked upon the earth. Why is this? Surely the disciples had not forgotten Ilis appearance. It may be for several reasons: First, because the first ages of the church were distinctly spiritual, and they would shrink from anything that would make Christ even seem to be materia). Second, they never tboueht of Ilim after His departure as the afflicted one or the suffering one. but they saw Him at the right hand of God in the glory, and as they i had no power to present a picture of Hint there, so they had no inclination to present Him in His humiliation. Third, because they still felt Hispresence with them. They had no need to put Tlis face unon canvas. I would a thousand times rather have the picture I carry about with me of Christ, which no artist has ever painted, or ever can paint, which I could not describe to you in words, even if I had the tongue of an angel. It is far beyond any earthly art. The early disciples must have felt this. Fourth, it may be that because when they saw Him after the Resurrection He was so different from what He was before that they could not paint the first picture, and they would not try to paint the second. And yet we do know much about Him. It would not have been difficult to tell how Stephen looked. We have but to read Acts vii: 55. 60?"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into J heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. * * * And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this he fell asleep." So it is with Jesus Himself. We have had some hints of His beauty in the legends of old. The story of St. Safronica; of the handkerchief used to wipe His face as He went to Calvary, upon which the impression of His face was left, and which was to he seen as it unfolded in the presence of Mary, His mother. This is Romish, and has no foundation in fact. The story of one I'ublius Lentulus. M ao was said to be President of the people of Jerusalem, to the Roman Senate, runs thus: "There ccme one among us, tall in stature, beautiful in appearance. His hair -wavy and crisp and falling down over His shoulders. His brow, broad, smooth and most serene. His face without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. His nose and mouth faultless. His beard abundant and hazel color like His hair. His eyes prominent and blue. In denunciation, terrible; in admonition, calm and loving. He was never seen to laugh, but often to weep. His haud3 beautiful to look upon. In speech, grave, reserved, modest. Indeed, He was fairer than all the sons of men." All this is beautiful and interesting as a legend, but it is said that there was no such office as President of the people of Jerusalem to the Roman Senate, and that Publius Lentulus never lived. Why all this absence of Christ in marble and Christ upon the canvas? Why is it that the pen has never described Him so that we might reproduce His face? It cer-1 tainly must all be of God. One reason may be in order that we might know that He belongs to the wide world, and to no race of men in particular. If He were known to be white, the black man might feel that; He was rot m symapthy with him. If Tic . were known to bo black the white man s would certainly feel a barrier between them. But as it is. He ii: Jesus, the Light of the world, and the Caucasian, the Mon f fco'i.m, the African, all can say together: "P'.ide. fade each earthly joy. Jesus ic ( mine." And yet, there are phrases of J Scripture which seem to give us hints not j to be passed by silently. I. HIS FACE SET TO JERUSALEM ' Luke ix: 51?"And it came to pass when , the time was come when He should be re- j ceived up, He steadfastly set His face to . an tr> .Tprusalpm." j %%, He loved the city of Jerusalem, but at < the time He went toward it, it was a city , of shadow*, and every step He took was , into the deepening shadow of Calvarv's , cross. I need not describe His going. He ( was like a conqueror. In the very way He | trod the streets of the city, and walked ; the highway of the land He loved. He , was filled with courage, and when He be- ? held the city He wept over it. Take this ] as a picture and there is nothing finer in ( art. Take it as a sentiment, and there ii j nothing deener in human pathos. Take it [ as a revelation of God. and no one need b_' j afraid of Him. Philosophy may speculate , about Him and try to reconcile His two . natures; theologians may attempt to define Him as being infinite, eternal and uu- , changeable, but the common man grows confused, and all that he can say is that the One to whom he has given his soul i is the Son of God, who was divine enough to go to Jerusalem in the very face of death, and human enough to be blinded uith His tears as He lookpd upon the city. He knew all about the suffering of Jerusa- , lem from all eternity, and vet H<? went on. When He ate the Passover and snoke of the one who should betray Him, He knew what was coming, and still He went on. 1 When Pilate mocked Him Tie kn*w it was but the forshadowing ot the sufferings of the crass, but still He went on. When He endured the nain of the scourging He knew j that this was but the beginning of agony with which the pain of the cross was not to be compared because it was so great, and yet He went on. The world has never seen such a conqueror as the Son of God, "who died that we might live." II. HIS FACE IX THE DUST. Matt, xxvi- 36-39?"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethscmane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebe* dee, and began to be sorrowful and very lieavv. Then saith He unto them, Mv soul slootU is exceeding sorrow iui, cm-m um?? tarry ye here and watch with Me. -Ami He went a little farther, and fell on Ilis face and prayed, saying: Oh, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." In the thirtieth verse we read that when they had sang an hymn they went out. IIow simple, and yet how profound the meaning! There never had been such a going-out before; there never has been such a goingout since. From the supper He made His way with the faithful few to Gethsemane, where the agony was so great that Gethsemane has stood for suffering ever since. "Oh, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me!" I wonder why the cry? Some one has said it was because He was about to be branded as a sinner, treated as a sinner, put to death as a sinner, and it was His horror of sin that wrung the crv from His soul. Yet we have . - i ... . J 1 -1?... trinea wun it, ana sm iw? amots w^n the same, is to-day, and shall be till the end of time. Dr. Gregg tells of n story in Fox's Book of Martyrs, where a Christian was to die a most horrible death?being placed in a sack filled almost with venomous reptiles. As he looked at it he said: "I can stand this for Jesus' sake." Yet when they put him in the sack and he felt the first touch of the reptiles upon his face he gave a shriek of agony that could not be described. It is said that no one has ever really known what prayer is until he has learned of the Spirit to put into practice thi* one offered in Gethsemane. It is not the kind that is offered to the congregation, or that is said at the bedside before we close our eyes in sleep: it is the kind that is crushed out of us. It is the cry o: the Syrophenoecian woman, "My daughter is previously vexed of the devil." It is the cry of Jesus in Gethsemane, "My Father, let this cup pass from Me." You sav, "What! His Father and all i tt:., HI* 9UI1CI IU^ . Yes, His Father, still, and yours, aiso. In the midst of an agony that may have almost broken your heart, you might have cried: '"My Father!" When there was not a hone in your life you might have whispered, "My Father!" And if the cry had come from the heart you wou!d have gotten as quick a response: "Be still, and know that I am God." III. HIS FACE SPIT UPON. But there is still another picture of His face in the New Testament. Matthew ' xxvi: 62-68?"And the high priest arose, and said unto Him, Answerest Thou nothing? What is it which these witness against Thee? But Jesus held llis peace. And the hijh priest answered ana said unto Him. I adjure Thee, by the living God that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou has said; nevertheless 1 say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the c^uds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard His blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, lie is guilty of death. Then they did spit in His face and buffeted Him, and others smote Hun with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us. Thou Christ, who is ne that smote Thee?'' Have you noticed how quiet He was in all the raockmgs and the seourgings? It must have been because of the Gethsemane experience. There are scenes in our lives that make talk a sacrilege. When you came back from following your child to the grave, or reached your home after being at the new-made grave of your mother, not a word was spoken; the house was as still as the tomb where they rested. A night with God would have the same effect. They may spit upon Him and strike , Him, but He feels it not, for while He walks the earth He live3 in heaven. Paul found this out: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And 1 knew such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God ! knoweth) how that he was caught up into j paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." , 2 Cor. xii: 2-4. And yet in point of fact Paul was lying at the gate of Lystra. People though him dead. His back was bleeding. His whole body was bruised. It is a possible thing for us to be transfigured , by the power of God, and become insensible to every earthly experience. Just as , when the hell-hounds were let loose agaipst]. fe.su s Himself, and they siaote Hint and spit upon Him, they never touclied Him. IV. ins FACE HEREAFTER. We have hints as to what He is to he j ike in the hereafter. "For Cod, who | ommanded the light to shine oat of darkless. hath siiined :n our hearts, to give :he light of the knowledge of the glory of j lod in the face of Jesus Christ."?2 Cor. j v: 6.) We are told how He will appear to the sinner: "For the great day of His wrath s come; and who shall be able to stand?" ?(Rev. vi: 17.) There was a time when is they smote Him they covered His face: 'And some began to suit on Him, and to ?over His face, and to buffet Him, and say into Him, l'rophesy: and the servants did strike Him with the palms of their hands." [Mark xiv: 05.) But not now. His eyes pierce His beholders through and through, ind their untorgiven sins m man |uu?.v sion pass by. The cry of the lost soul is 'Mountains and rocks, fall upon us, and hide us from His face." "And 1 saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the eartli and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them." (Rev. xx: 11.) This passage gives another touch to the picture, and what a change there is! Once there was in that fa re that which brought little children to Him. and made women love Hint; and now the very earth and the heavens have fled away from Him. "For the eves of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. '?(1. Peter hi: 12.) (lod's words are always true. Let him that hath ears take heed. We are told just a little as to how He shall appear to the saint. "For Thou wilt not leave mv soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer thine Holy One to see-corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life; in Thy presence is fu!ne?s of joy: at Thy right hand there are p easures for evermore" (Psalm xvi: 10,11.) We have hints of this joy here. Wo hr.ve left this pleasure because of His fellowship in this world. We have had these experiences, which have been like single notes dropped from the songs of heaven. But they shall be gathered all together there in ore grand anthem of praise, and we shall be tilled with the peace of God for evermore. V. -** ^ We have also some hints as to how this vision shall affect us when we see Him. John says: "I fell at His feet as dead."? Rev. ii: 17. It is supposed that the vision was so startling, the face so sublime. Just as men in this world are overpowered because of some wonderful experience, so John feil before Him in the skies. The transfiguration scene is another representation. "And after six days -Tesuj taketh Peter. James and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mounttain apart, and was transfigured befort them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light And behold, there appeared unto then Moses and Klias, talking with Him. Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to he here: if Thou wiltj let us make he::e three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one foi Elias." (Matthew xvii: 14.) Peter said, "Let us live here forever." In this he wai hut expressing the longing of every Christian heart that beat after his, and what Peter longed for God had promised tc give us. Jesus at the transfiguration is an exact picture of Jesus as He stands in glory, and a9 we shall see Him in eternity. Self-Cultivation. It happens to many a man and woman that in tne absorbing demands of businesi or professional life, of home duties or th< claims 01 society there is a gradual failure of moral purpose or religious convictions, and while the life grows in one direction it as surely degenerates in another. W< can cultivate any part of our natures w? will, iust as the gardener or horticulturist by selecting certain qualities gradually develops a new kind of potato or corn, a neu variety of strawberry or apple. We can make ourselves new kinds of men and women by giving attention to business or pleasure, books or music, athletics or religion. Spiritual tlnngs are not of interest to u< where we do not cultivate them, just a* business becomes dull if we do not give attention to it and try to make it interesting. As no man can be strong unless h< takes much exercise, so no man can be devout who does not wrestle with God in j prayer, early and late. Every kind of cultivation leads to! growth in manhood, and we are the kind 1 of men we make ourselves by our toil and [ our play, our hopes and our fears, out | fidelity ot mind and our loyalty of heart, f When the mind is open and alert, the heart gentle and loving, the conseienpe lirm and unfailing, the will strong and steadfast, we are sure to grow into larger manhood and womanhood, and there is nothing else for the sake of which life is [ worth living. Truly it is a good and ae- , ceptable saying that "the only object ia life is to grow."?Christian Register. God's Gift* and Blessings. God's gifts and blessings, valuable as ihev are. are never set before us to rejoice in. We may make idols of them. .And the idolatry which rests tn God's gifts instead of God Himself, is the worst and most prevalent form o; idolatry. The * heart suspects the less on account of its being Gou's blessings, whereas it ought to suspect it the more. Jacob would not have worshiped the Rial of the idol nations, but he had worshiped another idol. The affections of his heart had for lon:? I enough fallen down before his Joseph, and 1 when Gcd removed him, so little did he suspect his idolatry he prostrated his heart before the idol of Benjamin. Oh, the deceitfulness of the human heart! Who would trust it? This is the reason why "in the Lord" is so often set before us; "only in the Lord." One hair's breadth below Christ, and there may be idolatry, worse than the images of Rome or the Juggernauts of India, because done under greater light. God keep us from this specious form of idolatry! God keep us from the danger tc> which our hearts are hourly exposed!?F. Whitfield. Right Kind of Christianity. Christianity, savs Dr. Washington Glad aen in nis inc vjmisiiau xasivi, *-> uv? merely for Sundays and prayer meetings, for closet and death bed; it is for shop and office, for counting room and factory, for kitchen and drawing room, forum and council chamber. And Dr. Gladden intimates that one reason that the allegiance of the world to Christianity is not more general is that too much attention has been given to Christianity as a scheme for getting people safely out of the world, and too little to insisting on how they shall carry themselves in the world. Christianity must not be relegated to a secondary place?that is no place. The law of love is not. a sentimental maxim. St. James called it the royal law?the law regent everywhere, every while, in every relation to everybody. The whole creation groans and travails together until now, in need of such a Christianity, - . - J. H. WEDD1N< HARDVt inII' mill MIH III III i IdinWI I 90 F. 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