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Aff^ “AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE VOL. LIX. CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1938. EASTER THOUGHT: THE MAN OF SORROWS By Rev. Edward W. Carpenter “A man of sorrows, and acquaint ed with grief.”—Isa. 53:2. The entire prophecy, com mencing in the preceding chap ter, and extending through the whole of this, from which the text is taken, is a description of the character, sufferings, and atoning work of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Although writ ten ages before His coming, it seems now, after His mission has been accomplished,, more like a history than a prediction, so minute and definite is it in all its various particulars; in deed we may say, with strict propriety, that, by its fulfill * ment in every point, it has act ually become a portion of the true history of the great Re deemer of the world. It de scribes him as He was, when, having been made flesh, He dwelt among us; and in respect to the particular statement in the text, His whole life is one affecting illustration of the truth that He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. I. You will observe, then, that the language of the text does not describe the case of one who encountered only the ordi nary or the average amount of the trials which belong to hu man life. It is only a brief sketch which the sacred writers furnish us; a mere outline of those things which were more immediately connected with His official character and work; and if it is true, of men in gen eral that “every heart knoweth its own bitterness,” it was es pecially true of Him on whom were laid the iniquities of us all, that He had causes of an guish which are wholly beyond our comprehetnsion, because wholly unlike anything in our own experience. II. Of all the griefs of the Redeemer in His human life, He Himself neither needed nor deserved to bear one. At every step of that mournful path, that path so sown with sor rows and with tears, which it was given Him to tread, He could pause and say, with ab solute and unquestionable truth, “It is not for my good that these pangs must be en dured; it is not for any demerit of my own that this sore an guish is inflicted!” In this re spect, as well as others, the Man of Sorrows stands alone. His is a case without a parallel in all the records of humanity. III. All the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, so painful and so entirely unnecessary and un desired on His own account, were endured with unwavering fortitude. AH the facts of His personal history go to establish the po sition that He did feel as ex quisitely the trials and the griefs through which He passed as any other human be ing could have felt the same. And yet he never faltered. He was to the last moment of His life a willing sufferer. When human nature, almost overborne by the weight of an guish, prompted the petition, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” the unbending strength of moral purpose, the enduring energy of perfect self-devotion, at once dictated the addition, “Father, thy will be done!” He cordially acquiesced’in every instance in which the cup of sorrow was put into His hands. IV. In all the griefs and sor rows which the blessed Saviour suffered, His mind was chiefly ocopied with the good results in which His sufferings were to issue. We have said that He suffered not for His own sake; but He did not therefore suf fer to no purpose. He delib erately entered on His singular career of humiliation and self sacrifice, for the good of man and the glory of God. He un dertook to suffer, that, by what He, the sinless, should endure, the way might be opened for the pardon and restoration of the sinful, who must otherwise j perish without hope. And thus it was, that it was not so much the trials by which He daily suffered, as it was the end for which His sufferings were en dured, that engaged and ab sorbed His thoughts. We will now turn to some of the practical lessons which the whole subject naturally sug gests. 1. If even the Son of God, when on earth, was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, we certainly should not think it strange that days of trials are appointed unto us. 2. A second thought suggest ed is, that if our blessed Lord felt keenly what He suffered, and was even moved to tears, we need not reproach ourselves because we feel deeply our trials, and cannot but weep in the fullness of our grief. 3. A third thought claims our notice. If Christ was a willing sufferer, deliberately choosing to suffer for the good of others, we surely should consent to suffer for our own advantage. 4. If our blessed Lord and Saviour made less account of what He suffered than of the good results that were to fol low, it is wise at least in us to do the same. And oh! that all of you, my readers, may find it in your hearts to think often of the Man of Sorrows, and to study well His Divine example! What a mighty debt of love you owe Him, that He bore so much for you! How complete His quali fication to be your tender, faith ful, everlasting Friend! How consoling is the knowledge that out of His own deep experience of grief He can sympathize with you ; when bowed with an guish, you should lean, upon His bosom.* ~~ • — «. Then shall we enjoy that most appreciable hymn written by C. E. Keith: “0 *Jesus, we adore Thee, Upon the cross, our King; We bow our hearts before Thee; Thy gracious name we sing; That name hath brought salvation, That name, in life our stay; Our peace, our consolation When life shall fade away. Yet doth the world disdain Thee, Still passing by Thy cross: Lord, may our hearts retain Thee; All else we count but loss. Oh, Lord, our sins arraigned Thee, And nailed Thee to the tree: Our pride, 0 Lord, disdained Thee; Yet deign our hope to be. 0 glorious King, we bless Thee. No longer pass Thee by; 0 Jesus, we confess Thee Our Lord enthroned on high— Lord, grant to us remission; Life through Thy death restore; Yea, grant us the fruition Of life for evermore.” TO DRAMATIZE PEACE Already becoming known as a “peace axis—Canada, United States, Mexico,” an undertaking is being sponsored by the In ternational Council of Religious Education and the World’s Sun day School Association to edu cate the youth of these three nations in behalf of world peace by dramatizing the peace ful conditions existing in North America. Placing peace flags on the in ternational borders, holding peace festivals, and carrying, by Sunday school pupils of Canada and the United States, of a peace emblem from coast to coast along the border—these are three of the methods pro posed. One ship drives east and an other west With the selfsame winds that blow. ’Tis the set of the sails, And not the gales, Which tells us the way to go. —Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Truth is one, And in all lands beneath the sun, Whoso has eyes to see may see The tokens of unity. -Anon. TOWN AND COUNTRY PASTORS’ INSTITUTE Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, February 28 - March 5, 1938 Report of Findings Committee The week that we have spent together, as a group of pastors of the Presbyterian Churches (U. S. and U. S. A.), studying the work of the churches in the town and open country, has been a most profitable one. The fellowship through discussion and the exchange of ideas has been the means of increasing our appreciation of the respon sibility of the leaders in these neglected areas of our country. And, for this privilege, we wish to acknowledge our sincere debt of gratitude, first of all, to Dr. Henry W. McLaughlin, Director of Country Church Work in the Presbyterian Church, U. S., who has so splendidly led us in our thinking; also to the Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., and the Executive Committee of Religious Education, Depart ment of Country Church Work, U. S. Furthermore, we wish to thank the Louisville Presbyte rian Seminary for the use of her splendid equipment during our stay here, which has added to our comfort and enjoyment. And, most of all, we are indebt ed to all those who have brought us messages of information and inspiration, and have led us to see in a new light the work of the town and country pastor. Although we are aware of the many problems that face the worker in these open areas of our country, we are thankful that we have been made con scious of the many agencies to day that are available in help ing to solve them. The part that the Agricultural Depart ments of the State Universities are taking in, the aid . of the country church work is most significant. They acknowledge that the life of the people on the farms is dependent upon the moral and spiritual factors as well as upon the better eco nomic conditions. These two forces go hand in hand, and to neglect the one or the other will not lead to the abundant life. Therefore, the churches have found a real friend, and not a rival, in the Departments of Agriculture, and we would urge the pastors to cooperate with these leaders to the fullest ex tent. The town and country church es occupy a strategic place in the religious life of America. It is within these areas that we find the largest families, a larg er number of young people and yet more unchurched people. Here we find the most fertile field of labor for the Christian church. To neglect these fields is to fail to cultivate the very source of supply of the city church. To serve these people of neglected areas is to follow the method of Jesus, of whom it was said, “The poor (and neglected) have the gospel preached to them.” We, therefore, commend the Lord’s Acre Plan to the rural churches as a spiritual force that binds up together the life and religion of the people and as an opportunity of sacrificial ly doing the will of God, there by building them up socially, spiritually, and economically. Finally, we recommend this type of conference to the town and rural pastors as a helpful means of further preparing them to serve the people in these places. So, we urge the promo tional agencies of the two Pres byterian Churches to hold such a conference next year. signed: J. T. STEWART M. L. CLEMONS JAS. W. Me NUTT. Mt.« Pleasant, Tennessee The Presbyterian Church, March 9, 1938 Rev. William T. Byrd. Fee Community Center, Nicholasville, Kentucky. My dear Brother Byrd: Here is the roll which Mr. Paul Watson gave to me. I have made a copy of this and will mot need it back. I thought that we had a very pleasant week together at Louis ville and I am very glad that I had the pleasure of knowing you. We had very little time for personal contacts but what we did have at table and in the classes and lectures were very helpful. I came back feeling that I want to study the whole rural church question more carefully. With best wishes to you in your work at Nicholasville and hoping that I may see you again I am, Sincerely yours, JOHN B. LINDENBERGER, Pastor. Enrollment, Town and Country Pastors’ Institute Brandenburg, D. T., Route No. 3, Springfield, Ky., Pleasant Grove church, U. S. Byrd, William T., Fee Communi ty Center, U. S. A. (Colored) Nicholasville, Ky. Clemens, M. L., Cedar Springs church, U. S., Knoxville, Tenn. Caudill, O. V., Presbyterian church, U. S., Whitesburg, Ky. Cramer, Samuel N., Scott County churches, U. S., Georgetown, Ky. Cooper, W. L., Stuart Robinson School, U. S., Blackey, Ky. Crabb, Cecil, Presbyterian church, U. S., Carlisle, Ky. Deaton, Benton P., Wooten Community Center, U. S. A., Wooten, Ky. Ellis, Dorsey D., Presbyterian church, U. S., Sikeston, Mo. Kftwfcnerj 4-r G-~ -W., Presbyte rian church, U. S., Gerald, Mo. Lindenberger, John B., Presby terian church, U. S., Mt. Pleasant, Tenn. McNutt, Jas. W., Presbyterian church, U. S., Caledonia, Mo. Mills, Wylie K., Presbyterian church, U. S., Bloomfield, Ky. Ray, J. T., Jr., Presbyterian church, U. S., Sharpsburg, Ky. Rotenberry, A. G., Missionary Logan Presby., U. S. A., Bowling Green, Ky. Stewart, J. T., Presbyterian church, U. S. A., Greensburg, Ky. Tackett, J. R., Presbyterian church, U. S., Atoka, Tenn. Thompson, Geo. B., Presbyteri an church, U. S., McAfee, Ky. Watson, Thomas, Presbyterian church, U. S., Crocker, Mo. Watson, Paul M., Presbyterian church, U. S., Wilmore, Ky. TKEMBLIING SAINTS In the early days of emigra tion to the West, a traveler once came for the first time in his life to the banks of the mighty Mississippi. There was no bridge. It was early in win ter, and the surface of the mighty river was sheeted with ice. He knew nothing of its thickness, however, and feared to trust himself to it. He hesi tated long, but night was com ing on, and he must reach the other shore, At length with many fears and infinite caution, he crept out on his hands and knees, thinking thus to distri bute his weight as much as possible, and trembling with every sound. When he had gone on this way painfully, half-way over he heard a sound of singing behind him. There in the dusk was a colored man driving a four-horse load of coal across upon the ice and singing as he went! Many a Christian creeps trembling out upon God’s pro mises where another, stronger in faith, goes singing through life upheld by the same word. “Have faith in God.”—Author Unknown. “The trivial round, the com mon task, Will furnish all we need to ask, Room to deny ourselves, a road To bring us daily nearer God.” THE PASSION OF OUR LORD By Rev. Charles A. Ward, D. D. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him.—Luke 23:33. And he bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the He brew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him.—John 19:17, 18. Dante pictured Mt. Calvary as the center of the habitable earth. Edwin Holt Hughes said: “In some strange and mystical way, Calvary is in the geography of the infinite, and the crucifixion is in the calen dar of the timeless.” Certainly to Christians who are the faith ful followers of our blessed Lord, Calvary or Golgotha is the most sacred place on earth. The cross symbolizes our faith; it occupies the central place in our worship. No one can estimate the influence that “the green hill far away” has had upon the world’s civiliza tion. We observe, first, that the suffering of our blessed Lord was real. His suffering was borne in the body that was pre pared for Him. He knew the fierce strife of pain and the sting of physical agony. In the words of our catechism, “The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, be ing the eternal Son of God, be came man, and so was, and con tinued to be God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person forever.” “For there is one God, and one mediator be tween God and man, the man Christ Jesus”—Tim. 2:5. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we be held His glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”—John 1:14. L Second,- the presence of suf fering cannot be denied. Jesus experienced the agony of the garden, the tragic hours of trial, insult, mockery, cruel scourgings, betrayal and denial. He is condemned as a common criminal; crucified between criminals, and compelled to wit ness a merciless mob, surging to and fro like maddened beasts. The Roman soldiers gamble at the very foot of the cross. He is challenged to come down from the cross while His tor mentors continue to hurl taunts and insults, while all the while His physical agony and suffer ing are intense, until He is forced to cry, “I thirst.” All this was real and borne by a real man. In the midst of the darkness He is heard to ex claim: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The suffering is borne, the anguish endured, the victory won—and there is the final exclamation, “Father, into Thy hands I com mend my spirit.” i mru, mese sunermgs were for us. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath made to light upon Him the iniquity of us all.” Paul de clares, “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” It is the vicarious suffering of the Son of God that qualifies Him as the effectual Saviour of men. He was the spotless, blameless Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Fourth, sin made necessary Christ’s suffering and death. Sin had involved us in death. “As by one man sin entered intc the world.”—Horn. 5:12. “Anc when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and thal it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruil thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband wit! her: and he did eat.”—Gen 3:6. Again the catechism, “All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.” The cross is an illustration of the intense suffering that sin entails. Only the Lord Jesus could fully appreciate the na ture of sin. He knew its origin, its fruits, its consequences and its penalties. He saw man’s awful plight and therefore chose deliberately the way of the cross because of the world’s sin. Sin called for death. Only Christ, the second Adam, could succeed where the first Adam had failed. He must pay the price and make that death ade quate for others. Fifth, m the passion of Christ we see God’s supreme demonstration of the divine love for sinning man. Jesus Christ climbs Golgotha’s hill, carries the cross, endures the shame and humiliation, suffers the agony, and pours out His life blood to pay the debt of the a one loved. “Behold what man ner of love the Father hath be stowed upon us, that we shall be called the sons of God.” “But God commendeth His love to ward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Sixth, it is a complete pro vision of grace, perfect. God is left free to receive sinners without compromising His holy character. Christ brings re concilement between God and man. The penalty has been dis charged, satisfaction has been made, perfect obedience has been rendered. Completness of satisfaction rendered is seen in the words of Paul, “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, “We shall be saved-from wrath through Him. For if when iwe were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” When Bunyan’s Pilgrim came in sight of the cross the cords which held the bundle on his back snapped and the burden rolled from his shoulders into the open sepulchre and he saw it no more. For a long while he stood before the cross weep ing, laughing, wondering—for he could not understand how the sight of the cross could ease a guilty man of his load of sin. But it did, and so it does to-day. The atonement which Christ made may be a mystery, but we are certain that it is effect ive in our hearts and lives. What should be our response to the cross of Christ? Let Isaac Watts answer: “Were the whole realm of nature mine, I That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.” IN BEHALF OF A CHRISTIAN HERO A vigorous protest against the imprisonment of Pastor Martin Niemoeller in a concen tration camp has been made by the Federal Council of Churches through its executive commit tee. In spite of its “profess ion of loyalty to Christianity” the German government, ac cording to the protest, by its conduct is “depriving our Ger man fellow Christians of rights essential to the effective prac tice of their religion.” The “high-handed process by which the National Socialist government of Germany has « thwarted the action of its own secret court by. holding the he roic Pastor Martin Niemoeller,” the statement says, dismays the executive committee “many of whose members have had long personal contact with the German Church.” ‘God give me eyes that I may see, And so I never will i Pass by somebody’s Calvary, And think it just a hill.” —Unknown.
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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April 7, 1938, edition 1
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