GIFT OF 
 

 The True and the False 
 
 A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 
 
 B?- 
 
 THOMAS CORWIN CHAPMAN 
 
THE TRUE AND 
 THE FALSE 
 
 A TOPICAL STUDY 
 OF THE CHRIST 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS CORWIN CHAPMAN 
 
 Tfa 
 
 jr//7nfr& y^-^Piint-ni* 4- 
 
COPYRIGHT 1914 
 IY T. C. CHAPMAN 
 
 PRESS OF THE 
 
 SEASIDE PRINTING CO. 
 
 LONG BEACH. CAL. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 In the First Place 2 
 
 A False Christ 6 
 
 Christ and His Apostles 17 
 
 Our Babylon 20 
 
 Fakeisms 21 
 
 "In Thy Name" - 22 
 
 Topically 28 
 
 Man in the Superlative 29 
 
 Philosophical Presumption 30 
 
 The Temptation, an Index and a Testing .... 34 
 
 A Friendly Suggestion 37 
 
 What to Seek First 39 
 
 The Greatest of All Laws 40 
 
 A Challenge for a "Sign" 43 
 
 The Point of View 46 
 
 A False Issue : 48 
 
 The "Still, Small Voice" 50 
 
 The Concurrance of Miracle and Mercy 52 
 
 A Flattering Offer 53 
 
 Expectations of the Jews 58 
 
 A Moral and Mental Hercules 59 
 
 A Broad Gauged Man 63 
 
 A Friend of the Friendless 65 
 
 The Narrow Way 66 
 
 The.... Devil's Disciples 70 
 
 Nicodemus the Dubious 74 
 
 Believed but Doubted 77 
 
 But the Doctrine Stands 77 
 
 Believing but 79 
 
 He Joins the Church 80 
 
 An Influential Member 81 
 
 Conservative in Religion Only .. 82 
 
 Not All of Nicodemus 84 
 
 "Repent Ye" 86 
 
 A Philipic 90 
 
 The Church Promoter 95 
 
 An Interim 100 
 
 A New Doctrine 104 
 
 True Orthodoxy 109 
 
 Satan Cast Out Ill 
 
 The Unpardonable Sin 116 
 
 "Whose Son is He?" 120 
 
 A New Feeling 124 
 
 The Plot Thickens 127 
 
 The Beginning of the End .....132 
 
 "Behold the Lamb of God" ....135 
 
 293220 
 
IN THE FIRST PLACE. 
 
 A True Vision of the True Christ, is fundamental 
 to True Repentance and True Faith, and hence to 
 Salvation. The conviction of the writer, amounting 
 to a certainty that there is abroad in the land a false 
 Christ, a false repentance and a false faith, has led to 
 the publication of this book. Its chief object is to 
 induce the reader to go to Christ as the Supreme 
 Teacher, and learn of Him. 
 
 If you can get at it better, you might use in the 
 place of "vision," the word "conception," "percep- 
 tion/* "knowledge," or "understanding" of Christ 
 who is "God manifest in the flesh." The thought may 
 be communicated in various ways: By direct revela- 
 tion, by a Study of Christ as hereinafter attempted, 
 by the preaching of Christ so as to convey a true 
 vision of his Personality, by contact with those who 
 have been with Christ and "learned of Him," who 
 thus become "living epistles, known and read of all 
 men," and whose lives are a constant rebuke to sin; 
 and I will not say that it cannot come to us without 
 apparent means, for it is always brought to us by the 
 Holy Spirit, and what "ways and means" He may 
 employ I dare not say. 
 
 In illustration here is the case of Job: In his last 
 chapter he said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing 
 of the ear, but now mine eye SEETH Thee. Where- 
 
THE FALSE 
 
 fore I ABHOR MYSELF, AND REPENT IN DUST 
 AND ASHES." Thus what hearing could not do nor 
 long and intense suffering accomplish, a TRUE 
 VISION of the Lord performed with great thorough- 
 ness. It made the righteous Job abhor himself and 
 repent in dust and ashes. 
 
 And there is Jacob: A reading of Genesis from 
 the twenty-fifth to and including the thirty-second 
 chapter, discloses the sad fact that he was a consumate 
 crook up to the time when "there wrestled a man 
 with him until the breaking of the day." After this 
 struggle was over, we find the following entry: "And 
 Jacob called the name of the place Penial, for I have 
 seen God face to face, and my life is preserved/* Now 
 read on and you will be delighted to learn that Jacob 
 the supplanter and crook has passed forever, and from 
 that time on he was straight. In other words he had 
 an "experience/' was "converted" and his name 
 changed to suit the new man thus brought forth. 
 
 What prophet was equal to Isaiah, who wrote 
 the Gospel seven hundred years before the coming of 
 Christ? In his sixth chapter we find how he received 
 the annointing for this work. He saw a vision of the 
 Lord "sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and 
 His train filled the temple/' After describing what 
 followed, he says: "Woe is me! for I am undone; 
 because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the 
 midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have 
 seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Continuing he 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 5 
 
 says: "Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, 
 having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken 
 with the tonga from off the altar, and he laid it upon 
 my mouth and said *Lo, this hath touched thy lips, 
 and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged.' 
 Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom 
 shall I send and who will go for us?' Then said I, 
 'here am I, send me/ ' What a complete vision is 
 here! The seeing of the Lord, the consequent con- 
 sciousness of sin, the purging thereof, and the ac- 
 ceptance of his mission. Could any thing be more 
 complete? 
 
 Others might be mentioned, but brevity is the 
 word, and if the reader wants he can hunt them up 
 himself. We turn now to the fact that Christ was the 
 Exponent of Deity. The Scriptures are full of this 
 doctrine, and I quote one only out of many passages 
 to show it: "No one knoweth the Son save the 
 Father, neither doth any know the Father save the 
 Son, AND HE TO WHOMSOEVER THE~SON RE- 
 VEALETH HIM/' 
 
 It is the bring thus a true vision of the Father as 
 manifested in the true Christ home to the conscious- 
 ness, that inspires repentance and faith. When Peter 
 fell down before Christ and frantically exclaimed, 
 "Depart from me O Lord, for I am a sinful man," he 
 was moved by the same vision as were Job, Isaiah, 
 et al. Paul thought that verily he was doing God 
 service by persecuting the Church till he met the vision 
 
6 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 of Christ on the way to Damascus. But these men had 
 special missions and hence were prepared for them by 
 these direct revelations of the divine character. It is 
 not so with us all, but we must each have his 'Vision" 
 of the divine character in order to realize the "exceed- 
 ing sinfulness of sin/* and by repentance and submis- 
 sion to the divine will, know that this Father of ours, 
 whom we are thus made to "KNOW* will hear us. 
 Thus is true faith born in the heart. 
 
 When Christ went up to Jerusalem, He did not de- 
 clare Himself, but He simply "SHOWED** Himself 
 to the rulers. As they did not recognize Him as the 
 Christ, He called them "blind leaders of the blind.*' 
 As they were blinded by selfishness, He called them 
 hypocrites, serpents and vipers. He said to them 
 "how can ye escape the damnation of hell?*' They 
 failed to respond to the divine nature as shown in 
 Christ, and must die in their sins. 
 
 And SO MUST WE ALL IF WE TURN OUR 
 BACKS ON HIM WHO ALONE HATH THE 
 WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. 
 
 A FALSE CHRIST. 
 
 As there is only on true God and many false 
 gods, so is there only one true Christ and many 
 false christs. This will by some be considered a rash 
 statement, but what if it should turn out to be true? 
 And if we have a false christ, how much better off 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 7 
 
 are we than those who have false gods? Are we not 
 pagans as well as they? 
 
 "But," one may well ask, "what justification can 
 there be for such a monstrous supposition ?" Hold on 
 now until the facts are presented. Such a profound 
 thinker as Canon Farrer has said: "Even the God- 
 man Christ Jesus may be monstrously misrepresented 
 to us in art and theology. To Michael Angelo he was 
 a wrathful, averaging Hercules, hurling ten thousand 
 thunders on the crushed, convulsed, demon-tortured 
 innumerable multitude for whom he died in vain. To 
 many of the schoolmen his ideal was the self-absorb- 
 sion and squalid asceticism of the monkish cloister. 
 Priests have offered a dead christ for the living Christ; 
 an agonized chirst for the ascended Christ; an ecclesi- 
 astical christ for the divine Christ; a sectarian christ 
 for the universal Christ; a petty, formalizing, phari- 
 saical christ for the royal Lord of the great free heart 
 of manhood; a christ far off in the centuries instead of 
 ever nigh at hand; a christ of the exclusive fold for 
 the Christ of the one great flock; a Christ of Gerizim 
 or of Jerusalem, or of Rome, or of Geneva, or of Am- 
 sterdam, or of modern Oxford, for the Christ of the 
 eternal heavens and of the universal world." Others 
 might be quoted, but the above is sufficient to show 
 that the writer is not alone in the assertion that there 
 are false christs in the world. 
 
 It is said by a converted native of India that tKe 
 English brought to them an English Christ, and as 
 
8 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 they hated the English, it naturally followed that they 
 likewise hated this English christ. But he tells us 
 that now they are, in that vast country, learning 
 something as to the actual Christ, and many are turn- 
 ing to Him with inquiring minds and longing hearts. 
 
 But Christendom itself has the same trouble to 
 overcome. Did the writer not believe this, these lines 
 would never have been penned. It seems a hard 
 thing to say, but is nevertheless true, that with us the 
 schoolmen, and following them, our pulpits, have fur- 
 nished us with a casuistic, man-made christ, who is in 
 many vital respects, unlike the real Christ of Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke and John, and it is a notorious fact that 
 this christ the Common People refuse to hear or fol- 
 low. But more of this anon. 
 
 As the Savior of men is now made to appear to 
 the common vision, he seems so far removed from or- 
 dinary people as to be almost out of touch with mere 
 man and woman kind. As presented to us by the 
 generality of the pulpit and press, his humanity is a 
 mere matter of form, devoid of our common flesh and 
 blood. He is not touched with a feeling of our in- 
 firmity. Any sympathy he may be supposed to have 
 for human weakness is merely perfunctory. On the 
 contrary he is notably censorious, austere and aristo- 
 cratic, disdaining to eat with publicans and sinners. 
 
 It was written of Jesus that "He went throughout 
 every city and village preaching and showing the glad 
 tidings of the kingdom of God/' But the theological 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 9 
 
 christ of today prefers to confine his efforts to the 
 large cities and great auditoriums, where polite society 
 assembles, leaving the villages and out-of-the-way 
 places to the tender mercies of his Satanic majesty. 
 Furthermore, he descends to the use of what is called 
 * 'methods," by which almost any plan that insures 
 "success" may be resorted to. This includes that 
 doubtful and slippery subterfuge called "tact"; He 
 shows a penchant for and lays an unwarranted stress 
 on Paul's "I caught you with guile," as though guile 
 were a panacea for all the spiritual ills the soul of 
 man is heir to. Thus with worldly-wisedness he ac- 
 cepts the code and moves on the plane of social re- 
 spectability, avoiding contact with the troubles, woes 
 and sins of those who especially need his ministrations. 
 The Common Herd does not particularly interest him, 
 much less the poor and needy. As for the vicious, the 
 publicans and sinners, the harlots and the general 
 riffraf of mankind, away with them! 
 
 There is another very important and prominent 
 feature of this man-made, twentieth-century christ of 
 ours: He is decidedly weak in his make-up. He lacks 
 those stalwart and rugged qualities which so endeared 
 to the Common People the actual Christ of two mil- 
 leniums ago. For instance, we long in vain for him to 
 cleanse God's temple of them that traffic therein. On 
 the contrary he seems to look with complaisancy on 
 these profit-sharing custodians of the divine oracles. 
 Furthermore the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees 
 
10 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 need not fear the wrath of this modern Messianic 
 product of our theological schools. As our religious 
 institutions are now made up it would be ecclesiastical 
 suicide for him to apply to them the gruesome simile 
 of the painted sepulcher, and he dare not do it if he 
 were so inclined. He is vascellating and time-serving 
 chanting the praises of the great and leaving the 
 helpless to take care for themselves. 
 
 How natural it is, especially with those of us who 
 are of the Common People, to love and worship and 
 follow a Hero. We actually delight to boost for the 
 man who, if the need comes, stands alone against any 
 and all odds, and who neither offers nor accepts a 
 compromise. The current pulpit christ above referred 
 to, is not of this kind, but such a Man was Jesus of 
 Nazareth. It does not appear that at any time, under 
 any circumstances, did he abate or withhold one iota 
 of the full and exact truth, though from our stand- 
 point it would many times appear that he could have 
 best served his purpose by so doing. I have searched 
 in vain for any evidence to the contrary of this state- 
 ment. When the multitude would have made him 
 king, we naturally listen for Him to talk softly to them, 
 and gently show them the error into which they had 
 fallen. But he turns on them and reads to them 
 from their own minds the actual motive that prompts 
 them. He shows them up to themselves, the most 
 cutting thing that can be done. In the most explicit 
 terms he exposes the utter selfishness of their designs, 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 11 
 
 and from that point they turn back from following 
 Him. From that time the period of his unpopularity 
 begins. Afterward, as He was teaching in the temple, 
 as related by John, we find the following passage: 
 "As he spake these words, many believed on Him. 
 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, 
 'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples in- 
 deed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
 make you free/ * This touched them in a tender 
 spot, for they rejoiced in being of the seed of Abra- 
 ham, and of having never been in bondage 
 to any man. Right here a controversy began that 
 ended with these people who "believed on Him," 
 charging Him with having a devil, and picking up 
 stones with which to stone Him to death. 
 
 A careful examination of the record shows that 
 with Him there was no "tact," nothing of those school- 
 made terms known as "policy" nor "method" except 
 that of the simple and unadorned truth. He was too 
 strong to be even tempted by such trifling things. 
 True, He was tender as a child for 
 
 "The bravest are the gentlest, * 
 
 but He was a MAN for all that, and in everything that 
 goes to make a man was head and shoulders above 
 any other man of whom history speaks. To the poor 
 and needy, to the penitent and sorrowing, He was as 
 sympathetic as a woman, and forgot Himself in min- 
 istering to them. Even the common sinner got no re- 
 proof from Him. But to the hypocritical and mercen- 
 
12 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 ary, He was ever the minister of wrath. Though He 
 was "subject to His parents/' and always submissive 
 to the Father's will, yet never from Bethlehem to 
 Golgotha, did He once yield His point, except upon 
 one occasion. That was in His seeming controversy 
 with the poor Canaanitish woman, who insisted that her 
 daughter just MUST be healed. What a marvelous 
 Wonder of the Ages was He! He was Man in the 
 Superlative the ONLY REAL COSMOPOLITAN* 
 But how much of this can be said of the current 
 pulpit christ? We must not forget that there have al- 
 ways been preachers who have honestly striven to 
 manfully fulfill their "high calling" by preaching 
 Christ as he is. Let us hope that their numbers are 
 increasing. At present, sad to say, they are in the 
 minority, and the ordinary pulpit christ remains the 
 same. 
 
 This weak and vascillating, this censorious and 
 exacting, this shifty and world-conforming, this con- 
 troversial and hair-splitting christ, who tithes mint and 
 rue and cummin, and neglects weightier matters; who 
 takes the emphasis off the substance and places it on 
 the shadow; who forsakes the gutters of sin for the 
 walks of respectability, and who, like the ancient 
 priest and Levite, passes by on the other side, leaving 
 the vast multitudes of sinning men, women and chil- 
 dren weltering in their blood, has nothing in common 
 with the Glorious, the Matchless, the Superlative Christ 
 of the Wilderness, of Gerthsemine and the Cross. In 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 13 
 
 fact he is no better than ourselves, for He is the work 
 of our own hands! 
 
 Pointedly stated, we have made unto ourselves 
 a christ in our own image, even as the people of old 
 made themselves gods and endowed them with 
 their own personalities. To undo our folly we must 
 turn from this work of our hands to the great proto- 
 type, of which ours is but a clumsy counterfeit. In 
 other words, we must STUDY THE CHRIST OF THE 
 GOSPELS, AND TAKE HIM AS HE THERE AP- 
 PEARS. 
 
 By some these may be termed rash words, and 
 ill-considered, but the aweful subject has been ap- 
 proached with fear and trembling. What am I that 
 I dare speak aught but the truth as I am able to see it? 
 Of course the intelligent reader will understand that 
 the reference is solely to a current conception, or 
 rather misconception of the Christ, only, and that it is 
 intended to represent that conception or misconcep- 
 tion, asit is published and declared by theologians, and 
 the generality of the pulpit and press. 
 
 When the real Christ was with us in His own 
 proper person, though the hypocritical scribes and 
 Pharisees and the worldly minded Saducees set them- 
 selves to violently oppose Him, yet we are told that 
 they feared the people, for "the Common People 
 heard Him gladly.'* The "higherups" and their tools,, 
 the real criminals, were the only ones who sought his 
 crucifixion. The heart of the Common People has 
 
14 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 always been sound. As the great Middle Class, they 
 have always constituted the great Balance Wheel of 
 Society. When and where this middle class, or the 
 Common People has lost control, anarchy has pre- 
 vailed. But the idle rich and the non-producing crimi- 
 nal classes, are always a menace to civilization, be- 
 cause of their extreme selfishness. They crucified 
 Christ because He uncompromisingly condemned 
 them, and had won from them the support of the Com- 
 mon People, without which they could not live in idle- 
 ness. But He rose from the dead and prevailed in 
 spite of them. Then the worst they could do was to 
 MISCONSTRUE Him by obscuring those particular 
 qualities of the great Master that stood in their way, 
 and clothing Him with attributes He never possessed. 
 To the extent they can do this, they rob the Common 
 People of their great leader, and rob Christ of the 
 following of the Common People. 
 
 If the current pulpit christ is as above represent- 
 ed, what wonder is it that vast multitudes of the 
 Common People refuse to follow him? If they are 
 to be commended for accepting the real Christ, are 
 they not to be likewise commended for rejecting the 
 unreal? It is my fond belief that the Common People 
 would as gladly listen to the real Christ today as they 
 did in his Gallilean ministry. They are the same 
 their needs, their hopes and fears, their longings and 
 aspirations have undergone no change. The grand 
 and glorious fact also stands out that the Christ of 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 15 
 
 the Gospels is the same now as then. 
 
 Why then do the masses of the Common or 
 Working People ignore our churches, and to use a 
 hackneyed phrase, "turn for satisfaction to the husks 
 and vanities of time?" Are not the Common People 
 to blame for doing this? one may ask. They surely 
 are. They could and should hear and know and ac- 
 cept the real Christ as He is set forth in the Gospels. 
 He is "within call," so to speak, and not one of us 
 has a legitimate excuse for going without His ministra- 
 tions. But this does not answer the question as to 
 why do the masses ignore our churches. As a matter 
 of fact they accept or reject, not the Christ that should 
 be presented to them, but the christ that is actually 
 presented to them. They argue that the church, with 
 all its schools and colleges, with its learned theolo- 
 gians and ministers ought to know, and if the church 
 presents to them a counterfeit christ, they accept or 
 reject as the case may be. We are all Catholics 
 what the church says, goes with us. But let us do a 
 little thinking for ourselves, and get over this depend- 
 ing on others to do our thinking and praying for us. 
 In other words, let us study Christ at first hand, that 
 is, as He is presented in the Gospels, and not as He is 
 held out to us by others. 
 
16 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 TO KNOW THE TRUE CHRIST AND HIS KING- 
 DOM. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth is the great central fact of our 
 religion. Without Him it would be without meaning 
 would lack significance. Except for Him the Bible 
 would be a mere classic. To leave Him out would be 
 to render the Apostles impossible. They became 
 what they were because of Him. They finally came to 
 know Him, and from that fact became more than a 
 match for heathendom. For it is our conceptions of 
 Him, right or wrong, that make us what we are, and 
 fit or unfit us for His kingdom. To know Him 
 ARIGHT is life and peace. This is probably why 
 Paul commends to the Ephesians "the knowledge of 
 the Son of God/* at the same time referring to cer- 
 tain ones whom he condemns by saying, "But ye have 
 not so learned Christ,'* implying that Christ is to be 
 LEARNED. If, therefore, He is to be learned, He 
 must be STUDIED. Along this line Peter exhorts us 
 to "Grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ.*' Christ Himself in his prayer for his 
 disciples, uses this significant and unmistakable 
 language: "And this is life eternal, that they might 
 know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom 
 thou hast sent." 
 
 If, therefore, to know God and Christ is eternal 
 lift, how vital to us must be the study that necessarily 
 precedes such knowledge! There can be nothing so 
 valuable to us as ETERNAL LIFE, and as the knowl- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 17 
 
 edge of Christ, (Who is God manifest in the flesh, and 
 in Whom God is made known to us,) as the knowl- 
 edge of Christ I say is the gateway of eternal life, 
 how dilligently should we apply ourselves to the gain- 
 ing of this knowledge, by the study of Him from 
 whom alone it can come! 
 
 CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 
 
 With this in view the writer has determined in a 
 summary manner, to outline some of the results of 
 his study of Jesus of Nazareth. This is done not so 
 much by way of instruction, as to stimulate in others 
 a like, and he hopes a more profound and edifying 
 research into this boundless field of knowledge. He 
 is the more readily moved to this because of the be- 
 lief that the study is a neglected one. A half-century 
 of more or less activity in church work, has left him 
 with the conviction that the Apostle Paul is actually 
 better understood and more quoted than his Lord and 
 Master. 
 
 It seems that the controversial character of our 
 theology is responsible for this condition. The points 
 in dispute have been of such a character as to make 
 the letters of the great Apostle to the Gentiles the 
 most abundant source from which to draw arguments 
 with which to bolster up the respective sects, as well 
 as to throw confusion into the ranks of the adversary. 
 In this employment, pertaining as it does to speculative 
 theology, Paul becomes the fountain head of inspira- 
 
18 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 tion, and strange to say, his Lord and Master a secon- 
 dary consideration. 
 
 Quibble about it as we may, this is a naked fact, 
 and if it be offered in paliation that Paul wrote to ex- 
 plain Christ, this cannot alter the fact that we are 
 principally employed in explaining Paul rather than 
 Christ. 
 
 Yet, no one ever labored with such zeal to oblit- 
 erate himself and exalt Christ, as did Paul. To him, 
 Jesus the Christ, was a living, ever-present force, and 
 no wisdom or knowledge was of any avail except it 
 pertained to Him. No system, no philosophy, no 
 learning could charm Paul away from the feet of Him 
 whom he met on his way to Damascus; for no so- 
 phistry, no trick of rhetoric and no other device of 
 Satan could confuse him while there. In His exalted 
 presence Paul became the greatest and grandest of 
 men. And in one sense it is small wonder that, 
 charmed with his marvelous thought and diction, stu- 
 dents of his writings should unwittingly preach Paul 
 instead of the Master Whom he adored. 
 
 Even then as now, there was this same tendency 
 to lose sight of Christ and say, one that he was of 
 Paul, another of Apolus, another of Cephas, and 
 doubtless others that they were of this or that one. 
 In fact this partizanship became so alarming that Paul 
 himself rebukes it with great spirit. And there was 
 really more excuse for it then than now, for the church 
 was then in its infancy, and made up almost entirely 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 19 
 
 of recruits from the babel of Paganism. As the Gos- 
 pel spread over the Roman world, it necessarily came 
 into contact with every moral and religious system 
 known to that vast aggregation of nations. As these 
 many and diverse systems, one by one gave in their 
 adherance, it was but natural that they should attempt 
 to interpret Christ, each according to its own standards. 
 This of course lead to many diverse conceptions of 
 Him. 
 
 Now as the church continued to expand, and as 
 many new ones were formed, these several interpreta- 
 tions of Christ must eventually come into contact, one 
 with another. When that happened friction was de- 
 veloped, and this state had been attained even in the 
 times of the Apostles. It was this condition that call- 
 ed forth the Apostolic epistles. But perversity is a 
 human habit, and many disagreements persisted in 
 spite of these. ..Champions of this rendering and that 
 sprung up on every hand. The main issue was forgot- 
 ten. The Gospel message lost its significance. Christ 
 became a name merely. As it is today, His name was 
 used by many to conjure with only. In fact it is a 
 matter of history, that as the Apostles wrote to explain 
 Christ, so the fathers wrote to explain the Apostles, 
 and others again to explain these explanations, this 
 continuing until in the fourth century the controversy 
 threatened the peace of the world. 
 
20 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 OUR BABYLON. 
 
 And this spirit has always so dominated Chris- 
 tendom that it has ever been a kind of Babel, in which 
 the voice of Christ has often been drowned in the din 
 of doctrinal dispute. In fact it has many times been 
 forgotten in the clash of arms. Even today, standing 
 as we do on the threshold of the twentieth century, 
 full of our own fancies and those we have in- 
 herited, like the scribes and Pharisees of old, our ears 
 seem stopped from hearing and our eyes from seeing 
 anything that is not in keeping with the traditions we 
 have received. We light our flickering tapers at the 
 alters of earth and hold them proudly aloft as though 
 to dispel Egyptian darkness, while lo! the Sun Himself 
 shines full high in the heavens, AND WE SEE IT 
 NOT! In our worldly wisdom we fill our ears with the 
 discords around us, and catch not a note of the Mas- 
 ter's "If any man will do His will HE SHALL KNOW 
 OF THE DOCTRINE." We shout our Shiboleths at 
 one another, quoting from Paul, Peter, James and 
 John, even ringing the changes on Luther, Calvin and 
 Wesley, but seldom appealing to Christ! 
 
 It is passing strange that there should be any 
 excuse for saying such things, and some will say that 
 there is not. In proof of such denial it will be pointed 
 out that all teaching is in the name of Christ. That 
 both the pulpit and religious press are a unit on this 
 point. That His name is foremost in every sermon, 
 editorial or thesis , and in all theological text books. 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 21 
 
 That in fact no one pretends to advance any doctrine 
 except in HIS NAME. 
 
 FAKEISMS. 
 
 And such is no doubt the case. It is a deplorable 
 fact that no sooner does a fadist discover something 
 he thinks is "new," than he at once proceeds to hitch 
 it to the name of Christ. Every kind of error, none- 
 sense and abomination has been and still is being pro- 
 mulgated in the name of Christ. His NAME has been 
 and is being made to do duty for all descriptions of 
 crankisms and religious confidence games that can by 
 hook or crook be perpetrated on an honest and un- 
 suspecting public. 
 
 They all appeal to Christ, and their success is due 
 only to the general misinformation of the Common 
 People as to His true character and teaching. Had 
 the preachers and theologians been heretofore as zeal- 
 ous in studying Christ as they have been in splitting 
 hairs, the hosts of schisms that now stare at us wher- 
 ever we look, could not have been possible. But in 
 the exciting chase after scholastic baubles, our leaders, 
 like those in the times of Christ, have left the Com- 
 mon People to wander at large, the prey of any wolf 
 in sheep's clothing that might come their way. Is 
 it any wonder that the Common People should be- 
 come dissatisfied with the husks of theoretical theology 
 offered them in the name of Christ, and turn to this 
 and that humbug? It is a notorious and undenyable 
 
22 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 fact that owing to the barrenness of our current ortho- 
 doxy, Mormonism, Spiritism, Unitarianism, Doweyism, 
 Edyism, and many minor religious aborptions, (all 
 put forth in the NAME OF CHRIST), prosper and 
 grow, whilst the self-styled "Higher Criticism* is lead- 
 ing thousands into rank infidelity? 
 
 "IN THY NAME:* 
 
 This is all due to our self-sufficient orthodoxy as 
 taught by pulpit and press. It is history repeating 
 itself. It is the same old sin that Christ laid to the 
 charge of the orthodoxy of his day, to-wit, neglecting 
 the SUBSTANCE for the SHADOW. Like the leaders 
 of that day, we go off on side issues and emphasize 
 non-essentials. We persue fine distinctions and petty 
 technicalities. We build grand and imposing struc- 
 tures for the rich, (even as the Jews garnished the 
 tombs of the prophets,) and leave the common sinner 
 to shirk for himself, and the heathen to his own de- 
 vises. All this we do in the NAME of Christ, as 
 though His name could sanctify our sin! 
 
 In the latter part of the Sermon on the Mount 
 is a passage that was long a mystery to the writer, but 
 in view of the above it becomes plain: 
 
 "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, 
 have we not prophesied IN THY NAME? and IN 
 THY NAME cast out devils? and IN THY NAME 
 done many wonderful works?' And then I will pro- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 23 
 
 fess unto them 'I never knew you; depart from me 
 ye that work iniquity/ * 
 
 Just why people who were so zealous as to preach 
 in His name, cast out devils in His name and do many 
 wonderful works in His name, should be so summarily 
 dismissed, is, in the light of our current evangelism, 
 something of a puzzle. To begin with, it is evident 
 that the people thus addressed were strong believers, 
 and were identified with the church. They were evi- 
 dently of those who could say "I never lost an oppor- 
 tunity to testify for the Lord/* Doubtless they imagin- 
 ed that they were "saved through and through/' as the 
 saying goes. 
 
 When, therefore, the final test comes and they 
 are rejected, they naturally become amazed beyond 
 measure. Thinking there must be some mistake, they 
 commence to call to His mind the works they have 
 done IN HIS NAME. But some way that does not 
 seem to fill the bill. He looks at the WORKS them- 
 selves, rather than at the NAME in which they are 
 done. For instance, what did they * 'prophesy" or 
 preach? That is a more important question than the 
 name in which it was done. As before stated, every 
 kind of a humbug is being preached in the name of 
 Christ. Money making schemes that can be given a 
 religious cast, is connected up with the name of Christ, 
 for the purpose of giving them currency. Every kind 
 of iniquity the most horrible crimes in fact, have 
 
24 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 been committed in the name of Christ. But this fact 
 only makes them all the worse. 
 
 Just before His crucifixion, Christ gave to his 
 disciples a description of the judgment of the last day, 
 in which he contrasts those who will and who will not 
 be then accepted by Him. The saved are those of 
 whom He can say, "I was an hungered and ye gave 
 me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was 
 a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye cloothed 
 me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison and 
 ye came unto me." And furthermore, * 'Inasmuch as 
 ye did it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have 
 done it unto me.*' These, then, are the terms on which 
 any are to be admitted to his kingdom, and those of 
 whom these things cannot be said, are to be rejected. 
 
 So reads the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, be- 
 ginning at the thirty-first verse, which shows how the 
 requirements of Christ differ from the theology of 
 those who imagine that, because they accept His 
 NAME as their watch-word, they will in turn be ac- 
 cepted by Him. He Himself, puts it in a nutshell in 
 the following words: "Not every one that saith unto 
 me, 'Lord, Lord/ shall enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which 
 is in heaven." 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 25 
 
 TO STUDY CHRIST AT FIRST HAND. 
 
 In view of these facts how sadly we need to 
 KNOW Christ! And so far as we ourselves are con- 
 cerned, it matters but little whether we know any one 
 else. By having an understanding of Him and His 
 teaching, we are sure of the way in which we should 
 walk. When we go to the Gospels and study Him 
 first hand, and take His plain and simple teachings 
 to walk by, then will come to pass the saying found 
 in Jeremiah: "And they shall teach no more every 
 man his neighbor, and every man his brother saying, 
 'know ye the Lord,' for they shall know me from the 
 least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the 
 Lord.** 
 
 The one who reads the Gospels with an open 
 mind, cannot miss the way. It is there made so plain 
 that the simplest will understand, and it is the main 
 purpose of this book to induce the reader to go to the 
 Gospels and study Christ as He there appears. If you 
 do this you cannot but notice that He was best under- 
 stood by the children and simple-minded folk, foi 
 their minds were not burdened with so many tradi- 
 tions nor things which they thought they knew. As 
 you read it will dawn upon you what Paul means when 
 he says, "not many wise men after the flesh, not many 
 mighty, not many noble are called; but God has 
 chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the 
 wise.** So let us not read the Gospels with precon- 
 ceived notions. The best way is to read them with 
 
26 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 an open mind, forgetting so far as possible, all no- 
 tions we have ever acquired of and about them, being 
 careful above all, not to be wise in our own conceits. 
 Jesus Himself in His own person, is the solution of all 
 theological questions worth knowing. He is the em- 
 bodyment of our religion. Except He is the objective 
 point of all our spiritual thought, we go astray. Even 
 Apostolic teach is valuable to us only so far as it helps 
 us along this way. 
 
 We must never forget that Jesus set forth a sure- 
 enough KINGDOM. That it is an actual, palpable, 
 vital thing. That He alone stands at its head. That 
 the subjects of this kingdom accord Him loyal allegi- 
 ance, no matter who may try to get between them and 
 Him. That it is with Him and Him ONLY that we 
 have to do. Not with the Apostles, nor with the Fath- 
 ers, nor with Preacher, Priest nor Pope, are we to 
 deal, but with Christ only. 
 
 In the Gospels Christ always appears in the fore- 
 ground, an imposing figure, brightly and boldly out- 
 lined against the dark back-ground of Pharisaical hy- 
 pocracy. How clearly He stands revealed in this set- 
 ting! A consuming desire to learn more of this out- 
 line, as well as of and from the miraculous One Who 
 fills it, has lead to this study. So as I have learned 
 Christ, so as I have been able to see Him, I shall labor 
 to set forth, praying that my ignorance may not hinder 
 others, and that my weakness may prove the power 
 of God. 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 27 
 
 CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 The more one studies the subject the more one 
 is impressed with the fact that it is knowledge of Jesus 
 Himself of His actual Personality, that alone can 
 fill the measure of our instruction in religion. We 
 talk of "doctrines," as though salvation were a mere 
 matter of general principles, independent of Christ. 
 But He, Himself, is the one Great Doctrine that em- 
 bodies all the principles that can serve our purpose. 
 He, in His own proper person embraces everything 
 that tends to lift us up into that atmosphere which has 
 in it the elements of eternal life. No doctrine would 
 have any meaning, and "Christianity** would be a mis- 
 nomer without Him. As it now stands, it is merely a 
 system of religion that has been constructed by 
 churchmen. Though nominally an exponent of Christ, 
 it is in reality an expression of the views simply of 
 those who assume to speak for Him. 
 
 Many will shy at the name of Doctor Lyman Ab- 
 bott, but standing before the World's Congress of Re- 
 ligions, facing the creeds of all nations, and realizing 
 that the need of the world was Christ seggregated from 
 all isms, he rose grandly to the task when he said, "I 
 do not stand here as the exponent, the apologist, the 
 defender of Christianity. In it there have been the 
 blemishes and mars of human handiwork. It has been 
 too intellectual, too much a religion of creeds. It has 
 been too fearful, too much a religion of sacrifices. It 
 has been too selfishly hopeful; there has been too 
 
28 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 much of a desire of rewards here and hereafter. It 
 has been too little a religion of unselfish service, and 
 unselfish reverence. No, it is not Christianity we want 
 to tell our brethren across the sea about, it is the 
 Christ. * * * We have found the Christ and we do 
 think we have found in this Christ, in His patience, 
 in His courage, in His heroism, in His self-sacrifice, in 
 His unbounded mercy and love, an ideal that tran- 
 scends all other ideals by the pen of poet, painted by 
 the brush of artist, or graved in the life of human 
 history." 
 
 And so it is the Christ we must study, and not 
 Peter, James, Paul or any other of the Apostles. In 
 more ways than one they have told us so themselves. 
 To ponder and assimilate what He said and why, what 
 He did and why and the innovations He introduced, 
 and why. 
 
 TOPICALLY. 
 
 The plan is to study these things topically, and 
 not as is the wont, historically. This does not pretend 
 to be a life of Christ. The writer would shrink 
 from undertaking such a task. Others may think they 
 are able to acquit themselves with credit, in under- 
 taking such a work, but the writer makes no such pre- 
 tentions. No, it is not a life, but simply a study. The 
 plan involves consideration by topics instead of tak- 
 ing account of events. This will necessarily lead us 
 us backward and forward as the thought under ad- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 29 
 
 vice may from time to time appear. We will be less 
 likely to go astray by this method, for we will always 
 be in touch with the point considered until we are done 
 with it. It will always be before us and help us to 
 keep in the straight and narrow way that all thought 
 must travel that ends in a logical conclusion. The 
 idea is to do this with special reference to crcuial 
 epochs of His ministry, and the standards He erected 
 for our guidance. In order to do this with success, all 
 preconceived notions we may have acquired, must be 
 deferred. One great mistake of the Jews was that 
 they were not willing to do this. But whoever would 
 be Christ's disciple must come to Him with that simple 
 and abject surrender that marked Paul's answer when 
 stricken down and hailed by Christ when on his way 
 to Damascus. 
 
 MAN IN THE SUPERLATIVE. 
 
 One thing that we must first learn is that the per- 
 sonality of Jesus of Nazareth is, in every way, absolute- 
 ly normal. Were such a personality universal with 
 the human family as a whole, universal peace and 
 prosperity would result as surely as effect follows 
 cause. If you will sit down and count up the good 
 that would follow in such a case, as well as the evils 
 that would naturally disappear, at last you will find 
 yourself praying, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be 
 done, in earth as it is in heaven." The human family 
 has always had trouble because it has always been ab- 
 
30 
 
 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 normal. In other words, it is not as it should be. But 
 if each one would take on a normal personality, as- 
 suming the characteristics of Christ, all our problems 
 would be automatically solved. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth was Man in the Superlative. 
 Whilst other men have been great in special lines, He 
 was supreme in all things that make men and women 
 that which they should be in order to be happy. To 
 make this out it is not necessary to claim that He 
 was a military genius, for the whole subject of war is 
 abnormal, and can exist only while the human family 
 is abnormal. All such men as Caesar and Napoleon 
 are abnormal, whose greatness was the greatness of 
 Satan. 
 
 But the completeness and perfection of the work 
 of Jesus of Nazareth, providing as it does for every 
 need of humanity, demonstrates that He was supreme- 
 ly great in everything that goes to make genuine great- 
 ness. His was the universal and perfectly balanced 
 nature. He seems to have been endowed with a re- 
 serve force that could not be exhausted. We know that 
 He had a mental reach that never fell short, and a 
 moral virility that was invincible. 
 
 PHILOSOPHIC PRESUMPTION. 
 
 One of the titles by which He is known, is "The 
 Son of God." As to the exact meaning of this, no 
 human can possibly know. And yet men of 
 philosophic turn of mind have sought to peer into the 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 31 
 
 inscrutable mysteries of the Holy Trinity, and ascer- 
 tain the unknowable with the regard to the relation- 
 ship of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The con- 
 troversy this engenders is a towering monument to 
 human folly. The dispute is infinitely above our 
 reach. It is enough for us to know that a phrase used 
 to denote an earthly relationship has been employed to 
 describe that of the divine. Although it is possible 
 that it may not exactly and fully describe the relation- 
 ship, it is probably as near it as we will ever get by 
 our philosophy. The sensible way is to simply accept 
 the designations given by Christ, and not try to rend 
 the vail through which no man can pierce and live. 
 Christ Himself has given us the earthly father and son 
 as the nearest symbol of His relationship to the heaven- 
 ly Father, and it is safe to say that we are not required 
 to know more about it than He has told us. The 
 sinful woman who washed the feet of Jesus 
 with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her 
 head, what did she know about such questions? And 
 yet He said to her, "Thy sins are forgiven, go inpeace." 
 What more can He say to any of us? Would that the 
 self-sufficient ones who trouble the world with such un- 
 solvable riddles, had the wisdom of this poor woman! 
 
 BORN OF US. 
 
 Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was conceived 
 by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. This 
 is the record as it is plainly set forth. Those who 
 
32 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 have any doubts on the subject, should never enter a 
 Gospel pulpit. Furthermore, those who occupy such 
 a place, and are seized with any misgivings as to the 
 reality of this fact, should at once step down. They 
 cannot be considered as honest men except they do. 
 If they still wish to be heard, let them "hire a hall," 
 and preach their views solely at the expense of those 
 who agree with them on this point. Not only com- 
 mon honesty, but common decency as well would 
 seem to suggest this course. 
 
 BAPTISED FOR US. 
 
 As to Christ's baptism, the combined accounts 
 of the Evangelists is as follows: "Now when all the 
 people were baptised, then cometh Jesus in those days 
 from Nazareth of Gallilee to Jordan unto John to be 
 baptised of him. But John forbade Him, saying, I 
 have need to be baptised of Thee, and comest Thou 
 to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, 'suffer it 
 to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all 
 righteousness.' Then he suffered Him. And it came 
 to pass that as Jesus also being baptised of John in 
 Jordan, went up straightway out of the water; and 
 praying, lo, He saw the heaven open unto Him, and 
 the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, descending in a 
 bodily shape like a dove and lighting upon Him. And 
 lo, there was a voice from heaven saying, *Thou art 
 my beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased/ And 
 Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age." 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 33 
 
 Continuing the divine account we have: "And 
 Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jor- 
 dan, and immediately was lead up of the Spirit into 
 the Wilderness to be tempted by the devil; the Spirit 
 driveth Him into the Wilderness. And He was there 
 in the Wilderness forty days, being forty days tempted 
 of the devil. And He was with the wild beasts. And 
 when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, (and 
 in those days He did eat nothing,) He was after- 
 ward an hungered/* 
 
 Thus was Jesus inducted into His office and began 
 His work. From this time on, things happened quite 
 fast; for though there is in His short career what is 
 called "the year of silence,*' yet this was also big with 
 activity, as will be hereinafter explained. 
 
 TEMPTED FOR US. 
 
 To me the most remarkable statement in the 
 language above quoted, is the concluding portion 
 thereof. It is that after His forty days' fast, "He was 
 an hungered.** In and of itself there is of course, noth- 
 ing to wonder about hunger after a forty days* fast. 
 But the implication is that hunger did not come to 
 Him during the fast, but afterward. As to why this 
 was so, I do not know and dare not say. There was 
 evidently something there greater than hunger, for 
 hunger was overcome by it. We know that mental 
 conditions of a certain kind will overcome that desire 
 for food that is called "hunger.** But who shall say 
 
34 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 in this case? All that we can surmise is that Jesus 
 being alone in the Wilderness, with no company but 
 the devil and the wild beasts, for the space of forty 
 days and nights transacted a business that was so 
 urgent as to do away with the idea of physical sus- 
 tenance. It drove all hunger from His thought. The 
 issues then and there forced upon Him, must then 
 and there be decided. As to what it was, or as to 
 the details of it, we are not informed. 
 
 But it is apparent that the ordeal was success- 
 fully passed, for we are told by Matthew that after 
 the forty days had passed, "He was afterward an 
 hungered, " as also testifies Luke. Thus, after nature 
 had been suspended for forty days by the superior 
 urgency of the occasion, nature again asserted itself, 
 and He became hungry for food. Indeed we might 
 suppose that by this time He had reached the limit 
 of physical endurance, and to be on the border-land 
 of dissolution. But be that as it may, the preliminary 
 skirmish of that prolonged battle that culminated on 
 the Cross, had been fought and won. 
 
 THE TEMPTATION AN INDEX AND A TESTING. 
 
 Now begins that other struggle of which we have 
 an outline and which is generally meant when we 
 speak of the temptation. I take it that the main de- 
 tails of this fight are given to us because of its bearing 
 on His future work. It was an epitome and a prophe- 
 cy of the trials which were to follow. It was a con- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 35 
 
 test that must be made, not as some suppose, simply to 
 bring Him to His best, but to also clearly and unmis- 
 takably define the issues on which the campaign for 
 the establishment of His kingdom was to be fought. 
 Here in the deep obscurity of the desolate Judean 
 Wilderness, not only did he qualify for His work and 
 get His anointing for it, the anointing of untellable 
 suffering and temptation, but also He got the INDEX 
 of that work, the final chapter of which was to be writ- 
 ten in His own blood. 
 
 Whilst I contend that there was something more 
 vital in this event than to regard it as an ordeal in- 
 tended to qualify Him for His work, still it naturally 
 had the effect indicated by that supposition. Indeed 
 there is a great doctrine in the experience Christ had 
 at this time. He must be * 'touched with a feeling 
 of our infirmity," and be * 'tempted that he may suc- 
 cor them that are tempted/* By this struggle He arm- 
 ed Himself for other struggles. The secret of this 
 became apparent at once, for we are told that "He 
 returned in the power of the Spirit into Gallilee, and 
 there went out a fame of Him through all the regions 
 round about, and he taught in their synagogues, be- 
 ing glorified of all." 
 
 He was no longer the carpenter's son. He had 
 suffered, He had battled, He had won. He was now 
 a conquering hero, attended and attested by the Holy 
 Ghost, Himself. Those who had known Him thereto- 
 fore "all bore Him witness and wondered at the 
 
36 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 gracious words which proceeded from His mouth." 
 They had never before suspected His real character, 
 and were astonished at His seeming transformation. It 
 greatly increased their wonder that His parents and 
 brethren and sisters were their neighbors, for "a 
 prophet is without honor in his own country." 
 
 But such are the fruits of suffering bravely en- 
 dured and of temptations overcome. Such ordeals 
 bring to the surface the best, the brightest, the grand- 
 est there is in us. Since then many another has come 
 from his Wilderness exulting in victory, and exhibit- 
 ing qualities that have puzzled the world. 
 
 But in the case of Christ, His neighbors were 
 more than puzzled. Their admiration was finally turn- 
 ed to envy, and under His scathing strictures, their 
 envy at last turned to hatred. They became "offend- 
 ed," and seemed to think it preposterous that such a 
 change should have come over Him without their 
 having had something to do with it. Like many others 
 have done since, they then rose up and thrust Him 
 out of their synagogue. 
 
 But returning to the temptation, let it be noted 
 that the part of it that is described to us very clearly 
 presents an outline that defines the issues which were 
 at stake in the struggle He was thereafter to engage 
 in. It shows the lines along which the conflict after- 
 ward preceded. It thus determines the principles on 
 which His kingdom is to be founded. By making a 
 study of it, therefore, we become the better prepared 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 37 
 
 to understand the work He afterward performed. The 
 Wilderness, the mount of Transfiguration and Gethse- 
 mine, were all stepping stones to the Cross. With all 
 their mysteries, they all, nevertheless, cast a light, 
 each peculiar to itself, on the dark tragedy of Calvary. 
 What a scene is here! It affords room for the 
 imagination to give full swing to fancy and yet fail to 
 reconstruct the subtle devices, arts and beguilments 
 practiced by Satan on this lone and now starving 
 young man. Every strategy is brought to bear that 
 can tend to deplete His physical strength, weaken His 
 mental virility or undermine His faith in God. As the 
 strain must come on His human powers, they are re- 
 duced to the lowest possible ebb before the final as- 
 sault is made that is to determine whether or not He 
 is to be the world's Messiah. This situation comes 
 to us freighted with special interest because of the 
 fact, as herein before intimated, it forms a key that 
 unlocks the future by foreshadowing the career that 
 was to follow. 
 
 A FRIENDLY SUGGESTION. 
 
 The temptations of Satan usually come to us in 
 the nature of suggestions that run parallel with our 
 own thought. This has the advantage of an appear- 
 ance of it having originated with ourselves. As far 
 as possible these suggestions are thus made to harmon- 
 ize with our own inclinations. There is of course, a 
 slight trend in the wrong direction. But no matter 
 
38 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 how small the angle may be, it will, if not rejected, 
 finally serve his purpose, which is always to lead us 
 away from the course we should go. The insignifi- 
 cance of the wrong trend serves to conceal the pur- 
 pose of the suggestion. 
 
 This was peculiarly the case with the first record- 
 ed temptation of Jesus. After a forty-day fast the 
 thought of bread must needs be urgent. It was the 
 one thing of all others of which He would seem to 
 have need. It looks as though it must have obscured 
 all other things, and that any suggestion as to the 
 manner of its being supplied, must receive immediate 
 attention. That is, it would from our point of view. 
 
 And from our point of view the suggestion of 
 Satan bears the appearance of friendly advice as to 
 the way Jesus might supply His pressing need. "If 
 Thou be the Son of God," argues Satan, "command 
 that these stones be made bread." His full thought 
 seems to have been about as follows: "As the Son 
 of God Thou hast a kingdom to set up. Thou art 
 burdened with the task of redeeming the world. Why, 
 therefore, should You perish here in this desert, and 
 let this great mission go by default?" As the Son 
 of God, Christ had a right to command and it should 
 be done. Humanly speaking He was where no help 
 could reach Him. He could save Himself and thereby 
 save others only by a miracle. At that time, because 
 of the long fast and the added burden of torment He 
 had undergone, Jesus must have been on the very 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 39 
 
 verge of dissolution. Every human sense would seem 
 to second the suggestion that the stones be turned into 
 bread, provided, of course He had the power to per- 
 form the miracle. 
 
 "IT IS WRITTEN." 
 
 And in the answer of Jesus there is no hint of a 
 sin being involved in this. "It is written,*' He says, 
 "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
 word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This 
 goes solely to the necessities of the case. Why should 
 He turn the stones to bread when it was not needed, 
 and He could live without it? It was not necessary 
 to perform this miracle, and therefore He would not. 
 But there are two constructions that might be placed 
 on this answer. One is that He could live without 
 bread or any other sustenance than that which God 
 supplies without effort on His part. This rendering 
 seems technical. In fact it suggests a greater miracle, 
 if possible, than that of turning stones to bread. As 
 He told His disciples at Jacob's well, He had meat to 
 eat they knew not of. 
 
 WHAT TO SEEK FIRST. 
 
 The other construction on His language is that so 
 long as He did the well of God He could rely on be- 
 ing taken care of. And this had its confirmation in 
 the after ministrations of the angels. An echo of this 
 occurrance may be found in the Sermon on the Mount. 
 
40 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 It is in the following and similar language: 'There- 
 fore take no thought saying, 'What shall we eat? or 
 what shall we drink? or wherewith shall we be 
 clothed? (for after all these things do the Gentiles 
 seek.) For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye 
 have need of these things. But seek ye first THE 
 KINGDOM OF GOD, and His righteousness, and all 
 these things shall be ADDED unto you/ * This doc- 
 trine was thus exemplified in His own case at the very 
 beginning of His work. And it was not applied to 
 Him alone. His quotation carries out no such idea. 
 "MAN shall not live by bread alone,*' it says. 
 
 THE GREATEST OF ALL LAWS. 
 
 The greatest of all laws is the Law of Redemp- 
 tion. Under that law the Redeemer stands in the 
 place of the redeemed. He suffers, the just for the 
 unjust. He expiates their sins by bearing them as 
 though they were His own. Why this should be no 
 mortal may know, but nothing is more clearly empha- 
 sized in Holy Writ. With us self preservation is the 
 first law of nature, but with Him it was the LAST. We 
 may save ourselves, but NOT SO with Him. His only 
 privilege is to save OTHERS. For this express pur- 
 pose He came into the world. They who railed 
 around His cross spoke wiser than they knew, when 
 they lashed Him with the words, "Others He saved, 
 Himself He cannot save." For under the Law of 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 41 
 
 Redemption, if He saved HIMSELF, OTHERS He 
 could not save. 
 
 But the seemingly friendly suggestion of Satan 
 involved a covert violation of this law which He came 
 to fulfill. It was in effect that Jesus should begin the 
 work of redemption first, by renouncing His faith in 
 God, and second by attending first to His own wants. 
 True He could have turned the stones to bread, even 
 as He afterward multiplied the loaves and fishes. But 
 as the stones by the wayside on His triumphal entry 
 into Jerusalem would have cried out had the people 
 held their peace, so the stones of the Wilderness 
 would have turned themselves to bread at His need. 
 Miracles are wrought to supply a need, and it then 
 looked as as though the world would go without His 
 very much needed redemption without a miracle were 
 performed. But He was in perfect unity and accord 
 with the Father, and therefore He had no need, and 
 would survive for the performance of redemption 
 without turning these stones to bread. 
 
 He was a miracle Himself, and the greatest of 
 them all. He could live on the WORD of God alone, 
 without the ministration of any other miracle. In 
 Matthew He says: "The Son came not to be min- 
 istered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ran- 
 some for many." To the sinful woman at the well 
 He said, "Give Me to drink,*' but it was that He might 
 give to her and others of that city, the waters of life. 
 In reply to her answer He said, "If thou knewest the 
 
42 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 gift of God, and Who it is that saith unto thee, 'Give 
 Me to drink,' thou wouldest have asked of Him, and 
 He would have given thee living water." 
 
 He invited "Himself to dine with Zacheus but it 
 was only that He might bring salvation to that house. 
 As a matter of fact there is but one case recorded in 
 which Jesus asked to be ministered to, and that was 
 after "all things had been accomplished," and "that 
 the Scripture might be fulfilled." It was in the closing 
 moments on the cross, and under conditions which 
 we cannot comprehend. This is the language of the 
 text: " After this, Jesus knowing that all things were 
 accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, 
 saith, 'I thirst/ and after He had received the vinegar 
 that was then administered to Him, he said, 'It is fin- 
 ished.' ' (The reference to scriptural fulfillment is 
 to verse twenty-one of the sixty-ninth Psalm.) 
 
 I cannot but pause here in this discussion to note 
 that this was the supreme moment of the ages. It was 
 the single instant to which all the prophets had pointed 
 as celebrating the redemption of our race. It is today 
 the one hinge on which swings the one door of our 
 opportunity. But for this triumphant "IT IS FIN- 
 ISHED," we would be barred from the Kingdom of 
 Heaven! We would be in "outer darkness," with no 
 ray of hope shining through the universal gloom. So 
 far as we know, the whole human race would have 
 been irretrievably lost. What other recourse infinite 
 wisdom and love had in store, does not appear; but 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 43 
 
 the glorious fact that Christ finally "finished" His 
 work, leaves all such questioning unnecessary. It is 
 enough for us to know that now by His FINISHED 
 REDEMPTION, Christ has thus placed every derelict 
 of us in reach of a sure haven. 
 
 By ylielding to this particular temptation, Christ 
 would have begun His work of redemption by violat- 
 ing the very law under which it must be accomplished. 
 It is apparent, therefore, that had He yielded, His 
 triumphant "IT IS FINISHED/' would never have 
 been uttered. But the Law of Redumption was sus- 
 tained, and his commission to carry it into effect was 
 thus far written. 
 
 A CHALLENGE FOR A "SIGN." 
 
 But there are two other points to be decided. 
 The first one involves the manner of the propagation 
 of His kingdom, and herein of the character of that 
 kingdom. Heretofore Satan has been very modest, 
 but now he makes a frontal attack. It comes as a 
 challenge, and involves another great law of re- 
 demption. And this time he has some scripture with 
 which to support his contention. This is the account 
 given in Matthew: "Then the devil taketh Him into 
 the holy city, and sitteth Him on a pinacle of the tem- 
 ple. And saith unto Him, 'If Thou be the Son of 
 God, cast Thyself down;' for it is written 'He shall 
 give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in their 
 
44 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou 
 dash Thy foot against a stone/ ' 
 
 There are really two "ifs" in this: one expressed 
 and the other implied. "IF Thou be the Son of God, 
 and IF the scriptures be true, You will be safe in 
 making the adventure. Dare you put the issue to a 
 test? Dare You take the chances for the purpose of 
 assuring Yourself that both these *lfs will resolve 
 themselves in Your favor?*' This it will be seen was 
 a challenge to submit to a test of His messiahship in 
 the way of a SIGN. 
 
 Let us now look at the situation as it must have 
 presented itself at that time: The exercise of con- 
 scious power is an instinct of human nature, and es- 
 pecially strong when challenged as in the present in- 
 stance. And we must suppose that Jesus was not an 
 exception to this general rule. He was a man with 
 a man's inclinations. He was as subject to tempta- 
 tion as any of us. The vital difference, however, was 
 that we often yield, He NEVER. The appeal to 
 scripture, however, was cunningly calculated to lead 
 Him astray. It was quoted as an authority which was 
 recognized by Christ Himself, and it seemed to war- 
 rant a trial of the experiment. 
 
 And aside from the scripture quoted, there were 
 many illustrations of the text that could have been, 
 and doubtless were urged in its support. There were, 
 for instance, the example of Gideon and even of 
 Moses. They had both sought and received from 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 45 
 
 God testimonials of their call to do His work. Why 
 then should not Jesus, like them, put God to the test 
 and thus be sure of Himself before going further? In 
 other words why not have a SIGN for Himself, and 
 also why not furnish a SIGN to others? Reduced to 
 its lowest terms this was exact proposition. For if He 
 thus sought a SIGN for Himself, how could He deny 
 that privilege to others? 
 
 Truly did Jesus say to the scribes and Pharisees 
 that they were of their father the devil, for they met 
 Him with exactly the same temptation that was thus 
 proposed by Satan. It seems to have been with them 
 a favorite amusement to follow Him around and ask 
 for "a sign." No matter how many sick He healed 
 nor that He even raised the dead to life, they ignored 
 all such things, and demanded what they called "A 
 SIGN." The central thought of this request was for 
 Christ to exert His power to show His power. 
 
 In one form or another this temptation was the 
 one with which He was thereafter perhaps most fre- 
 quently assailed. How often was He surrounded by 
 throngs of His curious and expectant countrymen, who 
 were constantly appointing for Him signs of His mes- 
 siahship! And as corresponding to this scene on the 
 pinacle of the temple, it is a curious coincidence that 
 on His first appearance thereafter in His own city of 
 Nazareth, they dragged Him to the precipice on 
 which the town was built, with the purpose to throw 
 Him over. As He looked down on the rocks below, 
 
46 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 this incident on the pinacle of the temple must have 
 come to Him and the temptation with it. You can 
 make sure that Satan was again on hand with some- 
 thing like the following suggestion: "Now is Your 
 chance to convince them. Suffer them to cast Thee 
 down, and as the angels will bear Thee up in their 
 arms, no harm can befall Thee, and they will at once 
 hail Thee as the Son of God." Knowing how people 
 are over-awed by exhibitions of physical force, how 
 strong must have been the impulse to comply with 
 these suggestions! Besides it could be urged that in 
 this instance the exhibition would not be merely idle, 
 but would bear immediate fruit by bringing to His 
 side, not only His demented neighbors, but every 
 politician in the land. And true it is that He actually 
 gave signs in abundance, but they were not of the 
 kind they looked for. What they expected and in- 
 sisted upon, were of the kind suggested by Satan in 
 this temptation. They looked for an earthly king- 
 dom, and wanted something to show His ability as the 
 Messiah, to cope with the power of Rome, and make 
 Jerusalem the world's metropolis. 
 
 THE POINT OF VIEW. 
 
 From what has been said, it may seem surprising 
 that I should concede for the Jews that they were 
 right from their standpoint. But it must be admitted 
 that conceding their claim that the kingdom of the 
 Christ was to be a political kingdom like that of Cae- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 47 
 
 sar, there was good reason for their asking for a sign, 
 or a demonstration of physical force. The difference 
 was of view-point only. As they understood it, Mes- 
 siah when He should come, would re-establish the 
 literal throne of David. As even some of His dis- 
 ciples put it after His crucifixion, "should restore the 
 kingdom to Israel." And let it be remembered that 
 under that kingdom, God had on Mount Carmel dem- 
 onstrated in an answer by fire, that He and not Baal 
 was God. Why then, should not the Messiah demon- 
 strate in like manner? He too could call down fire, 
 even as some of his dispciples afterward besought 
 Him. He could rend the heavens, and shake the 
 earth with His thunderbolts. He could call and His 
 twelve legions of angels would stand in array. In 
 such a case every scribe and Pharisee, every Saducee 
 with all the people would instantly hail Him as king. 
 And as they thought of Christ in a political sense only, 
 this naturally seemed to them the correct thing to do. 
 No doubt they thouught it very unreasonable of 
 Him to talk to them as He did. They did not want 
 a Messiah so much for healing as for killing and de- 
 stroying, after the manner of the Romans. Rome 
 could not be humbled by merely making the deaf to 
 hear, the lame to walk and the blind to see. The 
 cleansing of lepers and preaching the Gospel to the 
 poor, would never overcome the legions of Caesar. 
 These things might do as side issues, and would un- 
 doubtedly please the unfortunate, but how could He 
 
48 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 except to vanquish the armies of the Gentiles by such 
 methods alone? These things were well enough in 
 their proper places, but never, no NEVER could they 
 force the world to bow to Israel! 
 
 A FALSE ISSUE. 
 
 This was their point of view, and on this ground 
 v/as where Christ and the Jews came to the parting of 
 the ways. This was the issue involved, not only in 
 this temptation, but also in the one to follow. This 
 temptation clearly implies that physical force is a 
 necessary factor in building up His kingdom, and the 
 final one proceeds on the theory that His kingdom is 
 of this world. But His kingdom, as He afterward 
 told Pilate, not being of this world, physical force, and 
 herein of * 'signs," had not then, and do not now, have 
 any place in it. The exercise of force by way of re- 
 straint, for instance, would be a violation of a funda- 
 mental law of that kingdom, for no member of it 
 shall ever be coerced. Absolute and unqualified "per- 
 sonal liberty" was and is assured to all who enter 
 there. 
 
 We have considered the stand-point of the Jews, 
 and now let us consider the stand-point of Christ: He 
 knew that to follow this suuggestion of Satan and the 
 Jews, would be to tempt God. This would neces- 
 sarily result from the implication that possibly God 
 could not or would not fulfill His promises. This 
 was the unmistakable issue raised by Satan and after- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 49 
 
 wards seconded by the scribes and Pharisees. And 
 aside from its other bad features it was a false issue, 
 because founded on the false assumption that Christ 
 had to do with a political rather than a spiritual king- 
 dom. 
 
 But Satan and the Jews are not the only ones to 
 raise this false issue. Even to this day some there are 
 who argue for "signs and wonders'* of a physical 
 nature. It is claimed that they would convince the 
 unbelieving and stop the mouths of the gainsaying. 
 Let us see how that would work: In the first place 
 how did it work out in the trial on mount Carmel? It 
 might, and doubtless did, have some effect in preserv- 
 ing certain features of the Theocracy, and in thus 
 transmitting the Law until the coming of Christ, for it 
 occurred under a worldy kingdom. Nevertheless, 
 there is not the least evidence that it worked any moral 
 or spiritual change for the better in any one. No 
 sooner was it over with than the prophet through 
 whom the test was made, was a fugitive from the fury 
 of the angry Jezabel. So far as the record of it goes, 
 it shows that this display of divine power actually had 
 a bad effect on all concerned in it. The prophet him- 
 self was at once seized with a kind of frenzy, under 
 the influence of which he slew the prophets of Baal. 
 Then, instead of remaining to press home the lesson 
 taught by it, he fled like a culprit. He had not the 
 faith to trust to God for protection, but at once be- 
 came "a fugitive from justice" in the wilderness. 
 
50 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 Here as a seeming excuse for his flight, he protested 
 to the Lord that he alone remained true. This of it- 
 self was a confession that this noted test or "sign** 
 had failed to reform the people or rulers. 
 
 THE "STILL, SMALL VOICE/* 
 
 To show the actual moral effect of such tests or 
 signs suggested by Satan and seconded by the scribes 
 and Pharisees, let us follow the prophet a little 
 further: For one thing he was evidently out with 
 the world, and like Jonah, displeased with the Lord. 
 Being directed to go from his retreat on a journey to 
 a certain mountain, he evidently arrived there in no 
 amiable state of mind. Here he had a series of ob- 
 ject lessons and an experience that followed, which 
 we can study with profit in this connection. Several 
 things happened: Three mighty displays of physical 
 force took place. But the prophet was no coward, 
 and they but strengthened him in his stubbornness. 
 Neither the cyclone that dashed the rocks in pieces, 
 nor the earthquake that rocked old Horeb like a ship 
 in a storm, nor the raging fire that surged around him 
 like a blast from the pit, served to move his heart. 
 They might for a time have awed a less sturdy char- 
 acter, but even then the effect would have been but 
 temporary, and at that not of the kind that reforms 
 the life. Such things are not of a nature to subdue the 
 wild passions of the heart. 
 
 After these displays had passed, however, and 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 51 
 
 a great calm filled the cave where he was, there came 
 a more powerful influence. As though to show us the 
 inability of spectacular physical displays to cope with 
 human instincts, there came the disturbances describ- 
 ed, and then what is called "A STILL, SMALL 
 VOICE/' In contrast with the raging elements, it 
 spoke to the prophet in the tender accents of infinite 
 sympathy and compassion. Then it was that Elijah 
 hid his face in his mantel, and for the first time since 
 fire came down on Mount Carmel, is willing to attend 
 to the word of the Lord. He is now informed that 
 he is not the only one God has left in Israel, as he had 
 eroneously supposed, but that God has seven thousand 
 in Israel who had never bowed the knee to Baal. And 
 this was as much as to say that the number was the 
 same then as before the great demonstration by fire 
 from heaven. 
 
 What then could have been the object of the 
 three years* drougth, the test between God and Baal, 
 and the slaying of the priests of Baal? They were 
 purely political in the sense of preserving the Jewish 
 nation in its allegiance to the Laws of Moses. In this 
 they had their effect; but as moral and spiritual forces, 
 they do not seem to have any good effect. There 
 were seven thousand true to God before, and the 
 same number after. This at least was so except we 
 play on the number seven, which I am not inclined to 
 do. The lesson is that the world does not need con- 
 vincing, but converting. The FOOL hath said in his 
 
52 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 heart 'there is no God/ " The trouble is not with the 
 HEAD but with the HEART. Where the heart is 
 right the head is seldom wrong. "Signs and won- 
 ders" do not reach the seat of the trouble. 
 
 "NOT MY MIGHT NOR BY POWER, BUT 
 MY SPIRIT, saith the Lord of Hosts/' It is the 
 STILL, SMALL VOICE, and not fear, wonder or 
 demonstrations to convince the skeptical, that reaches 
 and changes the heart. Fear and wonder had their 
 places in the old dispensation for political purposes, 
 but they are utterly inconsistant with the new. There- 
 fore the sign suggested by Satan and the signs de- 
 manded by the rulers of the Jews were at varience 
 with the very nature of Christ's kingdom. It is spiritual 
 and not physical. And to continue this all-important 
 topic just a moment longer, we will suggest for the 
 reader's investigation, the kind of works to which 
 Christ appealed under the heading, 
 
 THE CONCURRANCE OF MIRACLE AND MERCY. 
 
 On examining the works to which Christ appeal- 
 ed, we find them to be not exhibitions of God's 
 power, but of His character. In one sense of course 
 they displayed divine power, and in this respect were 
 as valid credentials as though they had been highly 
 spectacular, even such as that suggested by Satan. But 
 power was merely incidental to them, and not in any 
 way expressive of their real purpose. Their central 
 thought is THE GOODNESS OF GOD. They show 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 58 
 
 His disposition toward His children. They were per- 
 formed solely in the interests of suffering humanity. 
 They were practical proofs of the divine Father's com- 
 passion for His fallen children a demonstration that 
 was sadly needed then, and one which we still need 
 to reflect upon. There was in the same act the con- 
 currance of Miracle and Mercy. Power and goodness 
 were thus inseparable. This forces the conclusion as 
 nothing else could, that the act of Mercy was the act 
 of God. Divine Love and Divine Power thus 
 brighten up the ways of Christ as with the light of the 
 sun. Whoever denies this had better first stop and 
 consider what Christ said in answer to the scribes and 
 Pharisees when they said that He cast out devils by 
 Baelzebub the prince of devils. 
 
 A FLATTERING OFFER. 
 
 Had Jesus yielded to either of the two tempta- 
 tions hereinbefore described, the third would not 
 have been presented. Satan would have had a com- 
 plete victory without it, and would not have been 
 under the necessity of offering to divide his kingdom 
 with Christ. We have seen that the former tempta- 
 tions, either directly or indirectly, involved violations 
 of the very laws of the kingdom Christ came to es- 
 tablish. They were very adroitly presented, with 
 their true significance concealed, but it was there all 
 the same; and though He was reduced to the lowest 
 extremity consistant with life, they did not escape 
 
54 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 the scrutiny of Christ. To this fact we owe the third 
 temptation, which was thus made necessary by the 
 failure of the former two. 
 
 It was held for the last evidently because it in- 
 volved a partnership in which Satan must divide the 
 spoils with Christ This was a concession which Satan 
 was naturally loth to make, but having failed to sub- 
 vert the kingdom of Christ, he became fearful as to 
 the security of his own, and was driven to the expe- 
 dient of a compromise. 
 
 Following Matthew, we read: 
 
 "Again the devil taketh Him up into an exceed- 
 ing high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms 
 of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto 
 Him 'All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt 
 fall down and worship me/ * 
 
 There is no "If Thou be the Son of God** in this. 
 That point had been given up. Satan now recognizes 
 the true character of his opponent, and sees that it 
 is useless to raise doubts in the mind of Christ about 
 it. In the language quoted he tacitly acknowledges 
 Jesus as the Son of God, and proposes an alliance with 
 Him as such. 
 
 THE JEWISH LEADERS IN ERROR. 
 
 Satan begins this temptation in the usual style of 
 shrewd bargainers by making the terms very high. 
 Should Christ make a counter proposal, he could make 
 a handsome fall in his terms, and still have the best 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 55 
 
 of it. Even should he be compelled to accept the 
 partnership on equal terms, his chief object would 
 thereby be gained, towit: The overthrow of the 
 kingdom of Christ and the substitution therefor of the 
 kingdoms of this world. It was along the line of the 
 old order of things, involving the same old Competi- 
 tive System under which Satan's kingdom had been 
 built up. 
 
 Furthermore it was exactly in harmony with the 
 popular conception of Messiah's kingdom as a world- 
 power, which notion Satan had been evidently care- 
 ful to cultivate in the Jewish mind. The Jews did 
 not then and do not now know the true limits of their 
 mission. They thought then and still insist that the 
 mission of Messiah is to re-establish the worldly rule 
 of David, and make Jerusalem the metropolis of the 
 world. But we know now that their sole mission was 
 to preserve the Law and bring forth the Christ. To 
 accomplish these things, the Theocracy was founded 
 amidst the awful thunderings of Sinai, and other dis- 
 plays of physical force. These displays were neces- 
 sary in order to keep the refractory within bounds, and 
 to preserve at least the semblance of law and order 
 among the people. But Christ, when He came, was 
 "the end of the Law" and the great ante-type, in 
 Whom was fulfilled all that the Law prefigured. When 
 His kingdom was set up, the political kingdom was 
 legally at an end. 
 
 But this third temptation seemed calculated to 
 
5G THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 accomplish the very thing for which He came, to-wit: 
 To give Him the dominion of the earth, and that at 
 once, without the struggle that lay before Him. And 
 there is no good reason to doubt, as is generally done, 
 the sincerity of the proposition, or as the politicians 
 would say, Satan's ability to "deliver the goods." He 
 has since then delivered them to others and on ex- 
 actly the same condition. It can also be said that in 
 every case the bargain has been faithfully kept on 
 both sides. 
 
 But it is deemed preposterous by some that Satan 
 would have kept it on his part, as that would have 
 been surrendering his kingdom to Jesus the Christ. 
 There are, however, the best of reasons for suppos- 
 ing that Satan would rather have seen Jesus Emperor 
 of Rome than any other person. In such an event, 
 Jesus would no longer have been the Christ, but 
 Caesar only. And had Jesus been disposed to listen, 
 Satan would have been glad to modify the condition 
 imposed. 
 
 And when we stop to consider, the absurdity of 
 his doing so fades away. The alternative was death 
 on the cross. On the one hand was the Roman Crown, 
 on the other the Roman Cross. To accept the former 
 was to escape the latter. Thus two mighty impulses 
 combined in his temptation: one the impulse to es- 
 cape all the horrors hell could invent and man exe- 
 cute, and the other to acquire all the glory earth could 
 bestow. No such alternative had ever been brought 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 57 
 
 on the sons of Adam. Besides the proposal was plaus- 
 able as well as inviting. It was in direct line with the 
 theology of the day. It promised all that the Jews 
 looked and longed for. It was a solution of all their 
 difficulties. It guaranteed the immediate and effectual 
 ascendency of the seed of Abraham, and the law of 
 Moses. 
 
 And so far as Satan was concerned, it was ever 
 afterward an open proposition, ready for acceptance 
 on the part of Jesus. The devils insisted from time 
 to time in acknowledging Him as the Son of God, and 
 submitted to his bidding. When so permitted this 
 acknowledgment they would make on all occasions. 
 Often He enjoined silence upon them and again did 
 not suffer them to speak. But it is a remarkable fact 
 that since He completed His work, no evil spirit has 
 ever acknowledged Him as the Son of God. Divers 
 of them have claimed to be divine, but none of them 
 have been known to consent that Christ has come in 
 the flesh. In fact the test suggested by the apostle 
 by which to "prove the spirits,** was to sound them 
 on this subject. If they deny that Christ has come 
 in the flesh, they are not of God. 
 
 But how persistent was this idea of the Jews that, 
 as suggested by this third temptation, the Messiah* s 
 kigndom should be a worldy one. In spite of all evi- 
 dences of divine favor that attended Jesus, they stub- 
 bornly rejected Him because He did not fill this ex- 
 pectation. So firm a hold had the idea of a world- 
 
58 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 conquering Messiah gained, that the Apostles, in the 
 very face of the positive, emphatic and repeated decla- 
 rations of Jesus to the contrary, insisted upon it to the 
 very last, and after his crucifixion, though fore-warned 
 of what should happen, each went disconsolately to his 
 former life, supposing his claims were all a dream. 
 
 EXPECTATIONS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 And there was some reason for this contention 
 of the Jews, for which I think they have not been 
 given full credit. We of today know of course that 
 they were wrong, and we fail to appreciate their state 
 of mind. In the first place, many of the prophecies of 
 the Old Testament seem to favor their contention. It 
 is also evident that their leaders dwelt with much unc- 
 tion on these prophecies especially since they had be- 
 come subject to Roman oppression. Besides the idea 
 of a world-conquering Messiah flattered their national 
 pride, or patriotism as we call it. This no doubt was a 
 potent factor, for national consciousness was and is 
 today stronger in them than in any other people. 
 Since the return from the seventy years' captivity, the 
 Jewish mind has been crystalized on this subject. So 
 persistent in fact is the national idea in the Jews, that 
 after nearly two thousand years persecution, they are 
 today, though without a country of their own, and 
 scattered to the four quarters of the earth, as distinct 
 a nation as they were in the times of Christ. And they 
 were thoroughly imbued with the idea that Christ when 
 

 A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 59 
 
 he should come would abide forever. His death, 
 resurrection and ascension, were never thought of in 
 this connection. The whole body politic was saturated 
 with the thought of a world-kingdom for Messiah. 
 When, therefore, He said that His kingdom was not of 
 this world, they would have nothing of it. 
 
 A MORAL AND MENTAL HERCULES. 
 
 In concluding these remarks on the Temptation, 
 attention is recalled to an important feature of the 
 character of Christ which has been casually mentioned 
 on a former page. It is something which has been 
 habitually overlooked, and which in fact you seldom 
 or "never hear mentioned. The reference is to His ir- 
 resistible and unconquerable strength of purpose. His 
 patience, long-suffering and kindness, have been so 
 dwelt upon and emphasized, as in the popular view 
 to eclipse those of a more rugged and masculine sort. 
 In this way the current conception of Christ has come 
 to be almost of a feminine character. It is very un- 
 fortunate that this can be said, and I feel it important 
 that this notion be combatted. The impression that 
 He was effiminate repels. No matter how we may dis- 
 course to the contrary, the idea that He was merely 
 good is not satisfactory to the average intelligence. 
 He must be more than that to satisfy the demand. 
 Mere sentimentality can never answer the requirements 
 of the ideal Christ. And the impression that He had 
 
60 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 only the attributes of the softer sort, that are summed 
 up in the term GOODNESS, is a false one. It is true 
 that He had all the tenderness of a woman but added 
 thereto were all the strength and aggressiveness of 
 man; for He was the SPIRITUAL HEAD OF THE 
 HUMAN FAMILY. He had all the best qualities of 
 the race, regardless of sex. 
 
 Especially is it sought at this time to call atten- 
 tion to the stronger qualities He exhibited. When 
 seen in His true light, He becomes the moral and men- 
 tal Hercules of the ages. Where, for instance, can 
 be found any record of a strength of purpose and 
 power of resistance to to be compared with that of 
 Jesus in the Wilderness, let alone Gethsemane and 
 Calvary? Look at the Wilderness: here are two pros- 
 pects the one all glory and the other all woe. And 
 the alternative is presented at the psychological mo- 
 ment. He was prone and wasted, alone and forsaken, 
 with none to prompt Him but Satan, and none to 
 cheer Him but the wild beasts! And yet without even 
 stopping to choose between the glory and the woe, He 
 instantly commands the temper to get himself hence! 
 
 Not that He thereby renounced the dominion of 
 the world. It was and is rightfully His. But He 
 scorned the means of its obtaining, and the implied 
 manner of its administration. Rather than do this 
 He would take up His journey to the Cross. He 
 would found His kingdom on righteousness, and con- 
 quer by this or not at all. His people should "be 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 61 
 
 willing in the day of His power," and should be ruled 
 by the Law of Love and not by that of fear. 
 
 It is folly to say that His character as Messiah 
 placed Him above temptation. This would make 
 Satan out a fool for presenting it, and contradict the 
 Scripture that says "He was tempted in all points like 
 as we are.'* When He saw the scepters, crowns and 
 thrones, the legions of Rome, and heard the shouting 
 multitudes hail Him as king-of-kings, and then beheld 
 that other scene, blackened all over with woe and 
 shame, ending in the tragedy of Calvary, can we have 
 the heart to say that the Son of Man did not long 
 for the one and shrink from the other? 
 
 What would Alexander, Caesar or Napoleon have 
 done? What in fact did they do but choose "the 
 world, the flesh and the devil," and that without the 
 motive of the dread alternative? And yet we call 
 these men * 'great*' and their names have come down 
 to us as synonims of power! But Jesus of Nazareth 
 at His worst could do that which was too much for 
 them when at their best. When compared with Him 
 what weaklings were they! 
 
 And how they would have scouted the idea of 
 a lone peasant seeking to establish a kingdom by 
 moral suasion alone. And then to think of His re- 
 jecting the preferred dominion of the world! And 
 have you ever reflected that never for one instant did 
 He seek His accomplishments by indirection or 
 Never for one instant did He court the 
 
62 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 great. Never for one instant did He abate one iota 
 of His demands. 
 
 On the contrary He trod "rough-shod ' so to 
 speak, over every in-born and in-bred race and re- 
 ligious prejudice of His countrymen that lay in His 
 way. It mattered not to Him that for these they were 
 ready to contend to the death. For this He was re- 
 jected and crucified. Because He would not listen to 
 Satan and the Jews in conforming His kingdom to this 
 world, but on the contrary insisted that it must consist 
 of "Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy 
 Ghost," He must endure the Cross. 
 
 I have thus dwelt on these scenes in the Wilder- 
 ness because it is plain to me that they outline and 
 epitomize the events that afterwards took place. No 
 attempt has been made to go into those subtile and 
 doubtful speculations with which commentators gen- 
 erally amuse their readers when discussing this sub- 
 ject. It is hereby premised that it will shed no light 
 on the situation and is therefore of no importance as 
 to how Satan manifested himself nor as to the form 
 in which the temptations were presented. It is as- 
 sumed that whatever is set down by the Evangelists 
 is stated as it occurred. That Jesus fasted, was "after- 
 ward an hungered," that "when the tempter came to 
 Him" He began and conducted the controversy as 
 given in the record. That Satan was defeated in the 
 argument and then made an unlawful proposal for 
 which he was ordered hence. There seems to be 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 63 
 
 no useful object attained by going outside the records, 
 nor by any attempt to show that things happened 
 otherwise than as related. 
 
 That they took place at all is enough for us to 
 know. That they throw a flood of light on the charac- 
 ters, intentions and relative strength of the two great 
 actors, is of far more concern to us than theories as 
 to the manner of procedures. Such theories can at 
 their best serve to satisfy nothing more than a vain and 
 idle curiosity. No doubt the forty days were crowded 
 with the most exciting occurances, but as to what 
 they were and their full significance, we can probably 
 never know this side of eternity. They may, with all 
 written and unwritten, that happened in our Lord's ca- 
 reer on earth, form a theme for our study in the end- 
 less and no doubt busy life that awaits His true fol- 
 lowers in the life beyond. But even here the study 
 of the things that are set down for us, cannot fail to 
 bring its reward in the light it throws on many things 
 that thereafter happened, which would otherwise be 
 obscure. 
 
 A BROAD GAUGED MAN. 
 
 In a study of Christ it is important that we get 
 an understanding of His humanity. It will not do to 
 forget that He was a man nor that it was as a man that 
 He endured temptation, and finally suffered as such 
 on the cross. In Him God and Man met, and through 
 all the vicissitudes of His life and crucifixion dwelt in 
 
64 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 perfect accord. In Him God was reconciled to Man, 
 and in Him Man is reconciled to God. In Him was 
 established that harmony between the Creator and the 
 Created without which the latter can have no hope. 
 
 It is, therefore, with the man Christ Jesus that 
 I now proceed under the above heading. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the first miracle per- 
 formed by Jesus recognized the amenities of social 
 life. It distinguished Him from John, who was an 
 ascetic. It was at the marriage of Cana in Gallilee, 
 when He turned the water to wine to supply the lack 
 of that element. In this He gave a signal and em- 
 phatic approval not only of the marriage relation, but 
 of social gatherings, at which neighbors meet and 
 throw off the cares of life. Jesus speaks of the differ- 
 ence between himself and John in this respect, saying: 
 "John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say 
 he hath a devil." "The Son of Man came eating and 
 drinking, and they say: 'Behold a glutonous Man, 
 and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners/ * 
 John belonged to a class but Jesus has never been 
 classified. His nature was world-wide. There has 
 been no age nor clime He could not call his own. His 
 teaching and sympathies meet every demand of all 
 the human race for all time. In other words He stands 
 as the sole exponent of the Creator of the race. 
 
 No prejudice, no training nor class distinction 
 can be found in any of His sayings. As an instance 
 the Jews so despised the Samaritans that they felt 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 65 
 
 defiled even by contact with their soil. It is doubtful 
 if there was ever any such antipathy felt by any other 
 people as that shown by the Jews to the Samaritans. 
 But this did not in the least show itself in Jesus. In 
 fact He set Himself sternly against it. He did not 
 hesitate to go through their country, nor to tarry with 
 them, nor to teach them. It is a luminous comment- 
 ary on his world-wide spirit, that the ill-famed Sa- 
 maritan woman He found at Jacob's well, enjoys the 
 distinction of being the first to whom He declared 
 Himself to be the Christ. 
 
 A FRIEND OF THE FRIENDLESS. 
 
 How we all love the "Good Samaritan** and de- 
 spise the Priest and Levite, who "passed by on the 
 other side* when they saw him who had been left 
 "half dead** by the thieves! Of all the Jews these 
 should have been the first to stop and render the poor 
 fellow assistance. But they left it to the despised Sa- 
 maritan, and in this parable Jesus gave them a slap in 
 the face, knowing at the same time that they had it 
 in their power to do Him harm, and that the Samari- 
 tan could not prevent them. What if some promi- 
 nent preacher amongst us should have the temerity 
 to thus contrast a doctor of divinity and college pro- 
 fessor with a hobo, and correspondingly to the ad- 
 vantage of the hobo! It goes without saying that the 
 aforesaid preacher would have to watch pretty sharp 
 in order to escape a figurative crucifixion. 
 
66 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 And yet this would be but a trifle when com- 
 pared with the parable of the Good Samaritan. And 
 this was but a sample of what was taking place all 
 the time. The fact that He was a "friend of publicans 
 and sinners'* was enough to condemn Him in the 
 eyes of the Jewish leaders. But this did not in the 
 least affect His friendship for publicans and sinners, nor 
 the open way in which he manifested it. These things 
 go to show that He was as broad as the necessities 
 and divergencies of the race. 
 
 THE NARROW WAY. 
 
 But some may imagine that this is inconsistent 
 with the "narrow way" that is recommended by Christ. 
 This expression is found in the seventh chapter of 
 Matthew, and is a part of the Sermon on the Mount. 
 If you will read that address through, beginning with 
 the Beatitudes in the fifth chapter, you will discover 
 that it teaches the Science of Religion. When, there- 
 fore, He says "straight is the gate and narrow is the 
 way which leadeth unto life" He merely states a fact. 
 He did not invent that fact, nor is He in any way 
 responsible for its being such. It exists in the very 
 nature of things. Not that the "way" referred to is 
 at all obscure. On the contrary, it is so plain that 
 "the wayfaring man, though a fool, SHALL NOT err 
 therein." It is narrow for one reason, and a good and 
 sufficient one, that no one can serve two masters. He 
 can't go wobbling along the way of life in a good- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 67 
 
 Lord-and-a-good-devil way. He must cleave to the 
 one or the other, and if he undertakes to walk crook- 
 ed, it will probably be the other. 
 
 In order to understand what Jesus taught, He 
 must first be understood. And any one who reads the 
 Gospels with Him always in view, must see clearly that 
 there is nothing narrow in all His thought. It was the 
 broadness of His thought that brought upon Him the 
 enmity of the scribes and Pharisees. It can also be 
 said that it was their small, contemptable and hypo- 
 critical natures that brought upon them the leash of 
 His denunciation. 
 
 There was a class of people then as now, who 
 called themselves liberal. We find them even away 
 back in the times of Isaiah. In describing the kingdom 
 of Christ, He tells us how such people would be look- 
 ed upon when that kingdom had become established. 
 These pestiverous pretenders are always parading 
 themselves as "broad-minded" and affect great superi- 
 ority in that respect. Religion is too "narrow and ex- 
 clusive" for them. But hear Isaiah's description of a 
 prophecy concerning them. The quotation is from 
 the thirty-second chapter "The vile person shall no 
 longer be called liberal, nor the churl said to be 
 bountiful. For the vile person will speak villainy, and 
 his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and 
 to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul 
 of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the 
 thirsty to fail." 
 
68 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 What more graphic description could be given of 
 those self-styled "broad-minded liberals," who are 
 now engaged in warfare, open or covert, against the 
 kingdom of Christ? But true to prophecy, they are 
 now known and designated, not as "liberals," but as 
 INFIDELS. 
 
 But consider further as to what He meant by 
 "the narrow way": In the preceding verse He recites 
 the Golden Rule, and then comes the exhortation to 
 enter in at the straight gate, etc. It is indeed a nar- 
 row way, but is there anything "narrow-minded" 
 about it? It seems to me to be the broadest possible 
 thought that could be conceived. Stand up and be 
 measured by the Golden Rule, my "liberal" friend, 
 for that is the best test of liberality. If you are willing 
 to do by others as you would have others do by you, 
 you are the "pink and perfection" of liberality and 
 broad-mindedness. 
 
 Jesus was so uniquely liberal that He could get 
 no one to understand what He meant by it. The Jews 
 were so narrow that they conceived the idea that; they 
 were the only people. They were so well satisfied with 
 themselves that in their eyes all other nations were 
 "unclean." There is no sentiment of the human mind 
 so strong as that of national and race-prejudice, and 
 in no people was it so vital as with the Jews. Even 
 the Apostles, though plainly commanded to "go into 
 all the world and preach the Gospel to every crea- 
 ture," could not for a time comprehend this idea. 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 69 
 
 Peter himself, had to be brought to it by a vision. 
 Even then no proper conception of the breadth of 
 Christ's purpose could be gained until after Jesus Him- 
 self came down in person and commissioned Saul of 
 Tarsus as a special Apostle to the Gentiles. 
 
 A BROTHER OF THE RACE. 
 
 But it is a strong incidental proof of His divinity 
 that not the least trace of national or race-prejudice 
 has even been discovered in either the spirit or teach- 
 ings of Jesus of Nazareth. The same can be said as to 
 class-prejudice. As to the commandments it is hard 
 for us to realize how He broadened them, because we 
 find it difficult to understand how much the Jews had 
 narrowed them. How radical, for instance, must have 
 seemed His interpretation of the Sabbath. Against 
 their solemn protest He persisted in healing on the 
 Sabbath. "The Sabbath v/as made for man and not 
 man for the Sabbath," He said. The heathen Samari- 
 tan, who showed mercy, was worth a multitude of the 
 punctilious Priests and Levites who passed on the 
 other side. "Who is my mother? and who are my 
 brethren?" He said. "Whoever shall do the will of 
 My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, 
 and sister and mother." He refused to tell the rulers 
 of the Jews when asked if He were the Christ, for it 
 was their duty to know without telling, but immediate- 
 ly thereafter announced His Messiaship to a beggar! 
 
 The ministry of Christ is crowded with such il- 
 
70 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 lustrations of His magnanimity and breadth of thought 
 and spirit. He revolted at all littleness, indirection, 
 subterfuge and hypocrisy. He could no more be con- 
 fined within the limits of sect, class or race than could 
 the sun be held from shining over the earth. And 
 Jesus of Nazareth is the only one of the sons of men 
 of whom these things can be said! Truly He was "A 
 BROAD GAUGED MAN/ 1 
 
 THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLES. 
 
 A study of Christ necessarily includes a consider- 
 ation of His environment. Volumes have been writ- 
 ten upon the subject, but as we are simply studying 
 effects, a general statement is all our purpose requires. 
 
 In the first place the age itself, though one of 
 universal peace, was also one of almost universal de- 
 pravity. In the Gentile world, the influence of such 
 religious sentiment as had formerly existed, had al- 
 most disappeared, and as yet there was nothing to 
 take its place. With the Jews religion had degener- 
 ated into mere formality, and for the most part was 
 under the patronage of men who were blind to its real 
 meaning. Their worship was merely mechanical, and 
 their theology of the cold, heartless and selfish sort. 
 
 The scribes were the teachers with whom Jesus 
 came most in contact. Being doctors of the law, they 
 at once became interested when He appeared on the 
 scene. No doubt many of the scribes and Pharisees 
 were good men, but for the most part they were evil 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 71 
 
 minded. Of course they opposed Him to the limit of 
 their ability. 
 
 Volumes have been written on the relative status 
 of the scribes and Pharisees, but their general charac- 
 ter and status in society are all we need consider now. 
 As to the scribes, they were the recognized authority 
 on all questions sacred or secular. They were held 
 to be infallible. Their sanction gave currrency to any 
 notion, no matter how absurd it might be. Since the 
 days of Ezra they had been the sole expounders of the 
 law. So absolutely had they gained the public ear, 
 that their expositions of the law had actually become 
 of greater authority than the law itself! Under the 
 pretense of **putting a hedge around the law," as they 
 termed their commentaries, they succeeded in practi- 
 cally setting it aside. In this way they established a 
 verbal code of their own. By this means they im- 
 posed great burdens on the people, of which they 
 were also accused by the Lord. But they were strictly 
 obyed in all things, a fact which shows their com- 
 plete ascendency over the popular mind. The com- 
 monest scribe in all Israel was more honored than 
 the High Priest himself. Being infallible, how else 
 could it be that he would take precedence even of the 
 High Priest? Now let it be understood that what the 
 scribe enjoined, the Pharisees strictly performed, and 
 that together they were the dominating factors in Is- 
 rael, and you will begin to appreciate their importance 
 in society. 
 
72 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 Aside from the Apostles, no stronger characters 
 can be found in history than the scribes and Phari- 
 sees. And let it be remembered that from the start 
 they threw all their power against Jesus. Not an in- 
 stant did they hesitate to use their prestige against 
 Him. They went at it systematically, and used all 
 their cunning to bring Him into disrepute. The vio- 
 lence they finally resorted to was employed at the 
 earliest moment it could be used with safety. It re- 
 quired almost a continuous miracle to stop them until 
 His time had "fully come.*' 
 
 They first tried to silence Him by argument. 
 They resorted to every trick of the debater. They laid 
 all manner of snares for entangling Him in His speech. 
 But every attempt in this direction served only to show 
 up their own folly. In spite of their prestige, every 
 passage at arms they had with the Gallilean served 
 only to bring upon themselves the jeers of the multi- 
 tude. In no instance did He fail to put them to shame 
 before the people, and generally out of their own 
 mouths. Every attempt they made seemed more dis- 
 astrous than the preceding one, and from hence forth 
 they sought only His life. 
 
 But before going further, let us consider the 
 various characters ascribed to the Pharisees: There 
 are several kinds of them mentioned in the literature 
 of their day, and perhaps there is no better way than 
 to quote from the authorities on the subject. They 
 were divided into classes as follows: 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 73 
 
 1. Those who did the will of God for earthly 
 motives. 
 
 2. Those who made very small steps and said: 
 "Wait for me, I have still some good deed to do." 
 
 3. Those who went with their eyes half shut, or 
 knocked their heads against a wall, lest they might 
 look at a woman. 
 
 4. A class called ex officio saints. 
 
 5. Those who said "Tell me of another duty.*' 
 
 6. Those who are said to have been pious for 
 fear of God. 
 
 As to both the scribes and Pharisees, they were as 
 a whole a sad lot. About their only redeeming fea- 
 ture was their virility. That is to say, they were ag- 
 gressive, determined and uncompromising. They 
 opposed Christ because He exposed them. 
 
 BUT HE BROKE THEIR POWER. 
 
 They came to hate Him with a malignity that has 
 seldom if ever been equaled, because by stripping them 
 of their pretense, He touched them in their sorest spot. 
 Being finally and thoroughly discredited, they insult- 
 ingly followed Him around hoping to entangle Him 
 with the Romish government. To make a long story 
 short, they recognized the fact that there was an "ir- 
 repressible conflict*' between them and Jesus of Naza- 
 reth. In other words, they must overcome or be over- 
 come. He broke their power over the people, and it 
 was a case with them of either destroying Him or of 
 going out of business. Here was a young man who 
 
74 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 not only refused to bow to them, but actually called 
 them hypocrites, serpents, vipers and painted sepul- 
 churs, "beautiful and white without, but within, full 
 of rottenness and dead man's bones!*' Their case 
 was desperate they were fighting for their very ex- 
 istence. They were finally driven to make common 
 cause with their ancient enemies, the Saducees, and 
 in that way finally succeeded in compassing His death. 
 
 But what a doom they thereby brought upon 
 themselves! They involved themselves and their 
 country in irretrievable ruin. They are to this day a 
 hissing and a by-word in the mouths of all nations. 
 Especially is it true as to one party to the conspiracy. 
 No one has to this day consented to be called a 
 Pharisee. 
 
 Thus we gain some idea of the opposition Jesus 
 had to meet in the prosecution of His work. Had He 
 been a mere reformer, depending alone on human 
 aid, He could have made no impression. From a hu- 
 man standpoint, the scribes and Pharisees were so in- 
 trenched as to be invulnerable. No man, without di- 
 vine backing could have withstood them as did Jesus 
 of Nazareth. That He endured so long is proof posi- 
 tive of his divinity. 
 
 NICODEMUS, THE DUBIOUS. 
 
 Speaking of the Pharisees, it has already been 
 remarked that no doubt some of them were good 
 men. It would be strange that among so many some 
 fair specimens could not be found. In this category, 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 75 
 
 it is with pleasure that the name of Nicodemus is men- 
 tioned, though he was by no means a brilliant example. 
 The main thing that can be said for him, is that he 
 was not a hypocrite, and did not whine around for 
 "signs." The miracles that Christ performed were 
 enough to satisfy him that Jesus was "a teacher come 
 from God," though it is not revealed that he recog- 
 nized Him as the Messiah. 
 
 Nicodemus is commented on herein because he 
 is a type of a class that exists today, and further be- 
 cause all types are interesting because instructive. He 
 stands for a large and influential section of our church 
 members. He numbers his disciples by the million. 
 For this reason, (and for this cause alone), he is en- 
 titled to a large consideration at our hands. 
 
 Just previous to his interview with Jesus, he had 
 witnessed the cleansing of the Temple and other mira- 
 cles. He went to Jesus by night, and introduced him- 
 self by saying, "Rabbi, we know Thou art a teacher 
 come from God, for no man can do these miracles 
 that Thou doest except God be with him." This is 
 as far as he got. The question he came to ask re- 
 mains unpropounded and unanswered to this time. 
 The context indicates that it pertained to the future 
 world. In fact it seems plain from the question of 
 Jesus at the conclusion of the interview: If I have 
 told you of earthly things and ye believe not, how 
 shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? 
 (From this on the language is John's.) He knew that 
 
76 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 Jesus could tell him about the future life, and took 
 this occasion to get the desired information. He evi- 
 dently did not give a second thought as to the way to 
 get to heaven. He regarded this as a closed question. 
 Of course he would get there in proper time, for he 
 was not of those classed as "sinners,** but was of the 
 "elect." 
 
 Therefore, when Jesus forestalled His inquiry in 
 the manner He did, Nicodemus was somewhat aston- 
 ished. This is putting it mildly, for he was of the 
 most conservative of men, and from his answer it 
 appears to have been what our slang-mongers would 
 call "stumped.** After having once been properly 
 born, and that into the most approved class, and hav- 
 ing grown to be "old** and occupying a seat in the 
 counsels of the Jews, to now be told by this young 
 Rabbi that he must "be born again** or never see the 
 kingdom of God, was too much for Nicodemus. Even 
 after Jesus had explained that the new birth was not 
 of the flesh, but of the spirit, he seemed to be as badly 
 nonplused as ever. "How can these things be?** is 
 the last word we hear from Nicodemus at this time. 
 He was a Pharisee, and this idea of a new spiritual 
 birth was absurd. It was revolutionary. It upset 
 everything to which he was wont to cling. Besides 
 who and what would he be after he had been "born 
 again?** Like many another since, he could not recon- 
 cile it with his previous conceptions, and all he could 
 say was, "How can these things be?*' 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 77 
 
 BELIEVED BUT DOUBTED. 
 
 As heretofore stated, the principle interest in 
 Nicodemus is that he represents a large and influential 
 class of today. This class consists of those who firmly 
 believe that Jesus is "a teacher come from God," and 
 cannot get away from that conviction. Nevertheless, 
 they practically reject the most essential of Christ's 
 teaching, and especially that of the New Birth. They 
 don't like the idea of being born again. It is too radi- 
 cal almost uncanny in fact. This being "made 
 over," "reconstructed," or "converted," as the Metho- 
 dists call it, is something they do not care to bargain 
 for. 
 
 BUT THE DOCTRINE STANDS. 
 
 Before proceeding further it might be well to note 
 how this great fundamental doctrine was emphasized 
 by the Apostles. John, in referring to Christ, says that 
 "as many as received Him gave He power to become 
 the sons of God, even to them that believe on His 
 name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will 
 of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
 Again: "If ye know that He is righteous, ye know 
 that every one that doeth righteousness is born of 
 Him." Again: "We know that whosoever is born of 
 God sinneth not, but that he that is begotten of God 
 keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him 
 not." Again: "Whosoever is born of God doth not 
 
78 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 commit sin." Once more: "Beloved, let us love one 
 another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth 
 is born of God, and knoweth God." 
 
 Listen also to James: "Of His own will begat 
 He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind 
 of first fruits of His creatures." Here are some of the 
 things that Peter says about it: "Being born again, not 
 of corruptable seed, but by the word of God. * And: 
 "As new born babes desire the since milk of the word, 
 that ye may grow thereby." 
 
 Paul has a great many things to say about it, 
 among which are the following: "Therefore, if any 
 man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things 
 are passed away; behold all things are become new." 
 "For in Christ Jesus neither circucision availeth any- 
 thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." "And 
 have put on the NEW MAN which is renewed in 
 knowledge, after the image of Him that CREATED 
 HIM." 
 
 And in many other forms of speech did the 
 Apostles emphasize this great doctrine, and show its 
 absolute necessity, in all those who would become 
 members of the kingdom of God. It stands as the 
 most prominent doctrinal land-mark of that kingdom. 
 As Christ told Nicodemus, "Verily, verily, I say unto 
 thee EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN AGAIN, HE CAN- 
 NOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD." 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 79 
 
 BELIEVING, BUT- 
 
 But our Nicodemuses of today do not subscribe 
 to this because they are not willing to realize the fun- 
 damental fact of life, to-wit: that it is not what one 
 THINKS, nor what he SAYS, nor even what he 
 DOES that counts. Important as these things are, 
 they are but secondary. It is that which one IS that 
 tells the story for him. This idea exists in the very 
 nature of things, and cannot be changed. If one were 
 transported to the kingdom of God without being born 
 again, he would be out of harmony with his environ- 
 ment. He would be a mere "pig in a parlor," and to 
 say the least, would not feel at home. 
 
 Our Nicodemuses of today, like their spiritual an- 
 cestor, accept Christ as *'a teacher come from God,*' 
 and like him also reject His teachings. It is under the 
 inspiration of his leadership that the modern commer- 
 cial spirit drags the church down to the level of the 
 world, and forces upon it that interpretation of Christ 
 that is in keeping with its own depraved and selfish 
 instincts. 
 
 There are two points in Nicodemus by virtue of 
 which he becomes the great prototype of that vast 
 herd of worldings that throngs our churches, and they 
 are these: 
 
 1. He undoubtedly was a man of strong con- 
 victions, being willing to say that he KNEW that 
 Jesus was "a teacher come from God." On this point 
 
80 THE TRtJE AND THE FALSE 
 
 it seems he never wavered, for we find him a disciple 
 of Christ to the last, though secretly for fear of the 
 Jews. (He was looking out for number one.) 
 
 2. Though believing, he does not accept. Not 
 that he rejects Christ, but modifies and construes Him 
 according to his ov/n idea. In this way he readjusts 
 and adapts His teaching to suit his own purposes. In 
 doing this he takes refuge behind the wondering in- 
 terogative, "How can a man be born when he is 
 old?" And when it is explained to him that it is be- 
 ing born of the Spirit and not of the flesh, he cuts off 
 all further discussion by stolidly saying, "How can 
 these things be?" 
 
 HE JOINS A CHURCH. 
 
 There come to our churches multitudes of men 
 who, like Nicodemus, believe in Christ because they 
 cannot help it. Their judgment is convinced and they 
 find it impossible to reverse it. Many of them are 
 men of wealth and influence, and some of them of 
 education. But like Nicodemus, they are met on the 
 very threshold with the declaration, "Except a man 
 be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
 And like him they begin to say, "How can a man be 
 born when he is old? How can these things be?" 
 But they cannot get away from the conviction that 
 Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. They return 
 again and again, finally becoming regular attendants 
 of the Sunday services. 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 81 
 
 It might be that under the continued preaching 
 of the Gospel, they would at last yield to its influence, 
 and become converted; but in an 'evil hour the pastor 
 or some traveling evangelist undertakes to explain the 
 doubtful (?) question. In doing this he "tones it 
 down" so as to make the way easy. The result is 
 that being born again as he "explains" it, does not 
 mean this and does not mean that. As a matter of 
 fact, it does not seem to mean much of anything. The 
 conclusion to which he finally carries our typical Nico- 
 demus, is, as he expresses it, "to come out boldly on 
 the Lord's side, and fully identify himself with God's 
 people." In other words, he is to join the church. 
 Now as coming out "boldly" on the Lord's side no 
 longer means anything in the way of trouble, but on 
 the contrary has become a valuable commercial, so- 
 cial and political asset, our modern Nicodemus hastens 
 to join the church. This he does v/ith much ease and 
 grace, with no small flourish of trumpets, as well as 
 great satisfaction to the pastor and joy to the official 
 board. 
 
 AN INFLUENTIAL MEMBER. 
 
 He becomes a "highly respected and influential 
 member," occupying important official positions. He 
 often has it within his power to make it exceedingly 
 interesting for any preacher of that church who un- 
 dertakes to disturb his views on the new birth. On 
 the subject of religion, he is a conservative, and cannot 
 
82 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 endure "cranks," as he calls those who take the words 
 of Christ seriously. "There is reason in all things," 
 he says, "and most of all in religion. But there is 
 neither reason or sense in going to excess in such mat- 
 ters. People should keep within bounds, and not al- 
 low sentiment to run away with their better judg- 
 ment." 
 
 And this profound exposition of conversatism in 
 religion finds a ready response in the minds of many 
 other Nicodemuses. As Bishop Watson 'says, th6 
 tendency is to lower the rule to the practice rather than 
 raise the practice to the rule. Thus it is that the leaven 
 of conservative Christianity works its way through the 
 church, and the tribe of Nicodemus multiplies and be- 
 comes great and powerful. And thus it is that a large 
 and influential section of the church leaves Christ to 
 follow Nicodemus, and actually lapses into Judaism. 
 
 CONSERVATIVE IN RELIGION ONLY. 
 
 Now the Nicodemuses are not so very conserva- 
 tive about other matters. In business, politics or social 
 affairs, they are the veriest enthusiasts. On the subject 
 of money they are usually "extremists," or "cranks" 
 of the most ultra type. Into it each one he will throw his 
 whole soul, and in getting it will be "instant in season, 
 out of season." No day is too hot, cold or long for 
 them when persuing the treasures of earth. In fact, 
 from the standpoint of Christ, who advises us to seek 
 first the kingdom of heaven, and not to lay up treas- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 83 
 
 ures on earth, these people are, on the money ques- 
 tion, cranks of the first water. They are money- 
 maniacs, and sacrifice time, health, peace of mind, and 
 sometimes honor itself, on the altars of mammon. 
 And their gains are not used for suffering humanity, 
 as they must have been had they been "Born Again." 
 
 All they will part with is just enough to maintain 
 themselves in society and the church. All they can 
 scrape together, they monopolize for themselves and 
 convert to their own uses. No doubt they sometimes 
 pity the poor, and wonder why they are so. But like 
 Nicodemus, they cannot see what they have to do 
 with all this distress or to see how it is incumbent on 
 them to do anything about it, or to see that they hold 
 any responsible relation to it. Knowing nothing of 
 the New Birth, they know nothing of their responsi- 
 bility, and can no more see these things than they can 
 "see the kingdom of God/* 
 
 The things just referred to are of the kingdom of 
 God, and we must be in that kingdom in order to see 
 them. It can also be said that the only way to get 
 into that kingdom, is to be born into it. We must be 
 "to the manner born,'* or else we are strangers and 
 foreigners thereto. This, it will be said, is radical 
 language, but so is that of Christ. There is no com- 
 promise that can be made in this regard without drag- 
 ging the church down to the level of the world. All 
 attempts to smooth the way into the church by modi- 
 fying the language of Christ on this or any other 
 
84 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 requirement, is bound to bring reproach and disaster. 
 
 It is this great doctrine of being born of the Spirit 
 of God, that most distinguishes Christianity from all 
 other religions, and makes it a vital, aggressive, con- 
 quering power in the world. It was the impulse of 
 this doctrine that carried the primative church through 
 fire and blood, and enabled it with no other weapon 
 to vanquish the greatest military power ever known. 
 
 But what are WE doing about it? We are in- 
 ferentially echoing the "How can these things be" of 
 Nicodemus. Softly is the negation allowed from many 
 a sacred desk. Slyly is it murmured down the line of 
 those who "have come out boldly on the Lord's side." 
 The quiet ignoring of this great doctrine that so pal- 
 pably distinguishes the Christian religion from every 
 other, is driving the common people from our altars. 
 It lulls to sleep every divinely aroused impulse that 
 would lead us away from the dubious Nicodemus and 
 back to Christ. 
 
 NOT ALL OF NICODEMUS. 
 
 But let it not be supposed that the Tribe of Nico- 
 demus is composed entirely of rich men. Not by any 
 means. Poverty is no badge of Christianity, else the 
 millenium would now be at our door. Neither are all 
 the rich members of his cult. Christ said that it would 
 be hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, 
 but did not say they could not nor that they should 
 not. It is simply hard for them harder than for a 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 85 
 
 poor man. But many of them, thank God, have en- 
 tered the kingdom by seeking and obtaining the New 
 Birth. They rejoice in holding their wealth simply as 
 the stewards of Christ. It is His and not theirs. They 
 use it as those who expect to give an account of their 
 stewardship. 
 
 LEARNING FROM NICODEMUS. 
 
 We could all learn a lesson from Nicodemus if 
 we would. This reference is to his introductory 
 speech. It was undoubtedly correct. Christ Himself 
 tacitly accepted it as such. * 'Rabbi, we know that 
 Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can 
 do these miracles that Thou doest except God be with 
 him." His reasoning so far is unassailable. If Christ 
 could perform miracles, he was a TEACHER WHO 
 COULD SPEAK WITH AUTHORITY. So with 
 every one who can perform miracles, whether of heal- 
 ing or of anything else. Let one appear who can fur- 
 nish unmistakable evidences that he can heal the sick 
 by means of divine interposition, and we will all hail 
 him as *'a teacher come from God/' 
 
 There is a man who claims to represent St. Peter, 
 and there are millions who believe him to be infallible. 
 If he could DO the WORKS of St. Peter, we would 
 all follow his lead. The "Age of Miracles*' has not 
 passed, and never will pass; but the age in which men 
 were deputized to perform miracles, has passed with 
 the men who were qualified to speak with authority 
 
86 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 as the mouth-piece of Christ on earth. It does not re- 
 quire a course of reasoning to show the one of ordi- 
 nary sense that it would not do to give the power to 
 perform miracles to any one who is not so qualified. 
 Prima facia, therefore, those who pretend to cast out 
 devils, bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost or heal dis- 
 eases, are either mistaken in their own powers, or are 
 fakes. Let them prove their powers in the way the 
 Apostles did, and then we will blieve them. Let 
 them show us palpable miracles or quit pretending. 
 If they can do this, we will eagerly listen to whatever 
 they may say as coming from God Himself. 
 
 "REPENT YE!" 
 
 So far as indicated by the accounts in the Gos- 
 pels, the net results of this first missionary tour of 
 Christ, were the driving of the speculators from the 
 temple, arousing the antagonism of the rulers, and 
 a night conference with a lone Rabbi who, when told 
 what he must do to see the kingdom of heaven, gave 
 as his final answer, "How can these things be?" 
 
 There were, however, many at the passover, we 
 are told, who, when they saw the miracles He did, be- 
 lieved on Him. "But," adds the account, "Jesus did 
 not commit Himself unto them." That is, He did not 
 announce Himself to them as the Christ. He simply 
 showed Himself to the rulers and the people, doing 
 the works of the Messiah and leaving them to judge. 
 It was their place to know. Especially was this ob- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 87 
 
 ligation one to be discharged by the rulers, as they as- 
 sumed to lead public thought. 
 
 But they rejected Him, and He now turns to the 
 common people, for it is plain that those who should 
 give Him the prestige of their endorsement, will be 
 His strongest antagonists. He must fight His battles 
 alone. There is none to help, and His own arm must 
 bring Him deliverance. With this in view, He now 
 turns to the common people, and begins to instruct 
 them in the principles of His kingdom. But before 
 persuing this idea, let us consider His manner of 
 preaching. 
 
 He spends about eight months in the northeastern 
 part of Judea, the only record of which is that He 
 tarried there with His disciples and baptized. At the 
 same time, John was baptizing in Enon near Salem, 
 * 'because there was much water there." At this time 
 the Pharisees made an unsuccessful attempt to make 
 trouble between Christ and John. In this they suc- 
 ceeded only in drawing from John an unqualified en- 
 dorsement of Christ. Amongst other things he said: 
 "This is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." 
 
 Mark tells us in his first chapter, that after John 
 was put in prison, "Jesus came into Gallilee, preach- 
 ing the Gospel of the kingdom of God and saying 
 "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at 
 hand: repent yet and believe the Gospel." The key 
 note of this text is "REPENT YE AND BELIEVE 
 THE GOSPEL." The words before these are simply 
 
88 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 introductory. It seems to be thought by some that 
 the preaching of repentance was simply in prepara- 
 tion for the advent of Christ. That John, as the avant- 
 courier of Christ, preached repentance in anticipation 
 of His coming, but that when He came, this ended 
 the preaching of repentance, and thereafter salvation 
 was by faith alone. 
 
 How such a notion could gain credance, is a 
 mystery except on the theory of Satanic suggestion. 
 It defeats the very purpose which Christ came to ac- 
 complish. It heads off the initial requirement of the 
 New Birth, and thereby bars entrance to the kingdom 
 of heaven. As a matter of fact, no sooner is John's 
 voice smothered in prison, than Jesus Himself takes 
 up the cry, and sounds it on. 
 
 But first, because first in point of time, let us get 
 the language of John: "But when he saw many of the 
 Pharisees and Saducees coming to the baptism, he 
 said unto them, "O generation of vipers, who hath 
 warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring 
 forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance, and think 
 not to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham for 
 our father*; for I say unto you, that God is able of 
 these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." 
 
 So much for John. Soon after his imprisonment, 
 Jesus sent out the twelve, doubtless to help cover the 
 field left vacant by the imprisonment of John. He 
 gave them the same text, "And they went out, and 
 preached that men should repent." As before stated, 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 89 
 
 He took up the same theme Himself, saying, "The 
 time is fulfilled, 'that is the Christ of whom John spake 
 has come,* and the kingdom of God is at hand; RE- 
 PENT YE and believe the Gospel." 
 
 Now the people of that day thought that if mis- 
 fortune befell any one, it was because they were sin- 
 ners. Also they took to themselves the consolation 
 if they escaped calamity, that it was a sign that they 
 were justified of God. Full of this notion some told 
 Jesus of the Gallileans whose blood Pilate mingled 
 with their sacrifices. To this He replied: "Suppose 
 ye that these Galllileans were sinners above all Gal- 
 lileans because they suffered these things? I tell ye 
 Nay, but except ye REPENT ye shall all likewise 
 perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower of 
 Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were 
 sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell 
 you Nay, but except ye REPENT, ye shall all likewise 
 perish/' "I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in 
 heaven over one sinner that REPENTETH, more than 
 over ninety and nine just persons which need no re- 
 pentance." 
 
 HANDED DOWN TO US. 
 
 To show that this great and absolutely neces- 
 sary doctrine of Repentance, must be persisted in until 
 the end, the very day of his Ascension Christ said 
 to the Apostles: "Thus it is written and thus it be- 
 hooved Christ to suffer, and to arise from the dead 
 
90 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 the third day, and that REPENTANCE and remission 
 of sins, should be preached in His name among all na- 
 tions, beginning at Jerusalem, and ye are the witnesses 
 of these things." 
 
 But what is meant by the preaching of reptent- 
 ance, and after what manner shall it be done? The 
 answer is after the same manner as it was preached 
 by Christ. We have a way of preaching it in a general 
 kind of way, but Christ did it specifically. We have 
 a habit of simply saying that men ought to repent of 
 their sins, but leave them in ignorance as to just what 
 is meant. Or, if we particularize at all, we do it by 
 emphasizing some little thing, such as a failure to keep 
 some church requirement. Christ, however, left no 
 doubt in the minds of His hearers as to what sins He 
 had in mind. In our way of preaching repentance we 
 exactly illustrate what Christ charged to the scribes 
 and Pharisees, towit, that of tithing mint and annis 
 and cummin, and neglecting the weightier matters of 
 the law, Judgment, Mercy and Faith. 
 
 A PHILIPIC 
 
 The following is a sample of the preaching of 
 Christ: 'Then spoke Jesus to the multitude, and to 
 His disciples, saying, 'The scribes and Pharisees sit in 
 Moses* seat, all therefore, whatsoever they bid you 
 observe, that observe and do. But do not after their 
 works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy 
 burdens, and heavy to be borne and lay them on men's 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 91 
 
 shoulders, but they themselves will not move them 
 with one of their fingers. But all their works they do 
 to be seen of men. They make broad their phylac- 
 teries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and 
 love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats 
 in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and 
 to be called 'Rabbi, Rabbi/ * * * But woe 
 unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye 
 shut the kingdom of heaven against men. For ye 
 neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that 
 are entering to go therein. Woe unto you, scribes and 
 Pharisees, hyprocrites, for ye devour widow's houses, 
 and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore ye 
 shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, 
 scribes and Pharisees, hyprocrites, for ye compass sea 
 and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, 
 ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than 
 yourselves. * * * Woe unto you, scribes and 
 Pharisees, hyprocrites, for ye pay tithes of mint and 
 annis and cummin, and have omitted the weightier 
 matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith. These 
 ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other un- 
 done. Ye blind guides that strain at a gnat and swal- 
 low a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites, for ye make clean the out side of the cup 
 and the platter, but within they are full of extortion 
 and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that 
 which is within the cup and the platter, that the out- 
 side of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes 
 
92 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like unto whited 
 sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, 
 but are within full of dead men's bones, and all un- 
 cleanness. Even so, ye outwardly appear righteous 
 unto men, but ye are full of hypocracy and iniquity. 
 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, be- 
 cause ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish 
 the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, *If we had 
 been in the days of our fathers, we would not have 
 been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' 
 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye 
 are the children of them that killed the prophets. Fill 
 ye up the measure of your fathers, ye serpents, ye 
 generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damna- 
 tion of hell." 
 
 What a philipic is here! Where in all literature 
 can you find its equal? After two thousands years, 
 it stands without a rival. Its parallel does not exist. 
 What fearful language! and what a climax! It is the 
 master piece of all denunciations. 
 
 And we must not forget that this sermon had di- 
 rect reference to the leaders of the religious thought 
 of that day. As He tells His disciples and the as- 
 sembled multitude, the scribes and Pharisees sat in 
 Moses* seat. They were the pillars of orthodoxy. 
 They held to the correct doctrine, but were them- 
 selves bad. 
 
 It does not follow from the language of this ser- 
 mon, that it was spoken in anger. On the contrary it 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 93 
 
 was probably uttered in pity. Thus some callous 
 heart might be reached, and some seared conscience 
 aroused. For the only way to make a sinner feel the 
 enormity of his sin is to bring it directly home to 
 him. He must be made to realize that selfishness is 
 the tap-root of all sin, and that it must be eradicated 
 or there can be no salvation. It takes deep digging to 
 lift it out, but in order to free his own skirts, the 
 preacher of the Gospel must do this. 
 
 Paul was brought before Felix, and you would 
 naturally suppose that he would talk very softly to 
 him, using all available "tact" in doing this; for Felix 
 had it within his power to deliver Paul to the tender 
 mercies of the Jews. But just the contrary took place. 
 Paul began to talk with him, not in a way to molify 
 him as his judge, but to convict him of sin. And it 
 is recorded that as Paul "reasoned of righteousness, 
 temperance and judgment to come, Felix trembled." 
 Here we have the judge on the bence actually tried 
 and convicted by a prisoner in the dock, and this is 
 just the kind of preaching that has always brought men 
 to their knees before God. 
 
 But such preaching we are told would wreck our 
 churches, and it may be that if the pastor of the aver- 
 age church should copy after the above sermon of 
 Christ, or after that of Peter on the day of Pentecost, 
 he might soon find himself without a congregation. It 
 might leave his church a strranded wreck on the shoals 
 of financial disaster. But that would depend on the 
 
94 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 number of scribes and Pharisees to be found in his 
 congregation. 
 
 It is a fashion with some preachers of the Gospel 
 to give a series of sermons, say on the Sermon on the 
 Mount. This is well, and perhaps as it should be. 
 But where is the pastor who has the moral force to give 
 a series of sermons covering the points brought out in 
 the sermon above quoted? One great lack with us 
 today is that we fail to attack from the pulpit the really 
 serious sins of the day, and especially such as are 
 peculiar to members of the church. 
 
 But Jesus did not speak with such severity when 
 talking to the common sinner. When, however, He 
 reproved degenerate professors of religion, He became 
 seemingly the minister of wrath. They could not "say 
 and do not" with His consent. If a man assumed the 
 responsibilities incident to a profession of religion, he 
 must walk in accord with its principles. And herein 
 let us frankly consider some of the things that go to 
 weaken our churches: 
 
 One is the sharp competition between the various 
 denominations, which tends to relax the requirements 
 of admission. It is not an unusual sight to see the 
 doors of a church thrown wide open, and a general 
 invitation given for any and every body to enter. Not 
 only so, but the invitation is often backed up by an 
 urgent and even vehement exhortation, under which 
 the scribes and Pharisees, Nicodemus, Ananias, 
 Saphira and even Judas Iscariot himself could enter 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 95 
 
 and be welcomed. In fact the impression is left that 
 the Lord stands sadly in need of them. And if this 
 particular church is one in which membership has con- 
 siderable social, political or financial value, the pastor 
 is apt to make a catch of one or more of these worthies. 
 For if his satanic majesty does not take advantage of 
 such chances, he lacks the intelligence with which he is 
 generally credited. What more powerful position 
 could he occupy than that of a pillar in the church? It 
 goes without saying that he joins it every good oppor- 
 tunity thus afforded. But co-operating with this 
 rivalry of the churches, and operating in exactly the 
 same way, is the habit we have of carrying on "re- 
 vivals," and herein of 
 
 THE CHURCH PROMOTOR. 
 
 These pests swarm over the land like the locusts 
 of Egypt. Their business is to travel and hold "spe- 
 cial services" in the interest of all who will hire them. 
 Recognizing the fact that the standard by which they 
 are judged is that of increasing the membership of 
 the churches employing them, they shape their course 
 accordingly. 
 
 It is especially interesting to note the manner in 
 which they deal with the subject of repentance. As 
 taught by Christ, it is an exceedingly painful process, 
 especially in a hardened sinner. It involves sacrifices 
 that are hard to make. There are distressing diffi- 
 culties about it that our promoter finds are hard to 
 
96 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 overcome. There must of course be brought home to 
 the consciousness a conviction of sin. His hearers 
 must not only be made to realize that they are theore- 
 tical, but actual sinners as well. 
 
 And the deep, dark and heinous nature of his 
 sin must be forced upon him. And this is not all; he 
 must have a genuine and heartfelt sorrow for his sins, 
 both of omission and commission. Furthermore, the 
 sorrow for sin must finally reach the point where it 
 is not coupled with fear of consequences. It may 
 start in that, but such a condition is one of awaken- 
 ing, only. True repentance is a "Godly sorrow foe 
 sin," being born of a consciousness of having violated 
 God's Law. Where this exists, it always results in 
 being born of the Spirit. Without it there can be no 
 New Birth. 
 
 One who so repents will believe with all his 
 heart, but those who fail in this will stand around with 
 Nicodemus, and sneer "how can these things be?" 
 On this initial point Christ makes demands of us 
 which involve a reversal of the habitual course of our 
 thoughts, emotions and impulses. The point He 
 makes is that we shall love the good we now hate, and 
 hate the evil that we now love. It is at this point the 
 New Birth takes place, and at which old things pass 
 away and all things become new. 
 
 But your professional promoter does not seem 
 to take this view of it. He has a peculiar theology all 
 his own. It seems entirely independent of Christ, 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 97 
 
 being invented for and peculiarly adapted to "re- 
 vival** meetings. In fact it is not suited for any other 
 occasion. It certainly will not stand the strain of 
 every day life. To begin with, he seldom mentions 
 the subject of repentance, except in a casual way, for 
 ke knows full well that it is difficult to get sinners to 
 repent. If he speaks of sin at all, it is in a general and 
 perfunctory manner. So far as neglect of one*s duty 
 to the church is concerned, He lays it on hard, brings 
 out his "yard-stick," made for just such occasions, 
 and proceeds to apply it to his congregation. The con- 
 clusion from his measurement will be that those who 
 have failed to unite with the church, are in danger of 
 committing the unpardonable sin. 
 
 The destructive sin of hate, the hideous sin of 
 cruelty, the devouring sin of greed, the infamous 
 crimes of dishonesty, deception and hyprocracy, are 
 all overshadowed in the one theme of uniting with 
 the church. Just the very things that Christ emphasiz- 
 ed, he entirely ignores, and just the very things that 
 Christ minified, he magnifies and emphasizes. In 
 other words, he is of those whom Christ characterized 
 as straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel, and as 
 tithing mint and annis and cummin, and neglecting the 
 weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and 
 faith. (I ought in all good conscience to give him 
 credit for emphasizing "faith," though not of the kind 
 Christ demanded. In fact a peculiar brand of faith is 
 one of his specialties.) 
 
98 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 At the conclusion of his exhortation, he makes 
 many propositions to his hearers. All these are in- 
 tended to induce them to make some demonstration 
 by which to commit themselves in some fashion. By 
 a carefully devised and skillfully carried out scheme 
 of this kind, he is enabled to report at the end of the 
 meeting so many "conversions' (!) and so many 
 "added to the church." 
 
 Under the head of "Conversions'* all are count- 
 ed who in any manner responded to any of his propo- 
 sitions, such as coming forward and shaking hands, 
 rising in their seats or even raising their hands as in 
 assent to something proposed. Those who are finally 
 induced to join the church, are lead to believe that 
 the "faith" he speaks of is the first and last require- 
 ment. According to the promoter's theology this 
 faith "covers a multitude of sins." It fills the full 
 measure of righteousness. It is the Law, the Prophets 
 and the Gospel all combined. It is made the real 
 condition of salvation, (after you first join the church, 
 of course.) All else is merely incidental. 
 
 This, however, does not appear in the words as 
 stated above. It all comes out by way of emphasis, 
 which is taken from repentance, where Christ left it, 
 and deftly placed on what our promoter terms 
 "faith." The reason for this is not hard to find. It is 
 much easier and far less expensive to have this kind 
 of "faith" than to repent, in the way Christ requires. 
 It being natural for us to choose the easier alternative, 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 99 
 
 our promoter makes a "hit" by "gathering many into 
 the fold/' 
 
 But if the question were raised on these pro- 
 moters, they would resent the imputation that they do 
 not preach repentance, and so they do, of the kind 
 hereinto referred to, but not after the manner of 
 Christ nor of the Apostles after him. They emphasized 
 it with such great and persistant urgency that no one 
 could mistake. As preached by them, repentance, 
 and that of the kind your promoter ignores, was vital. 
 It was by them made the one primary condition. No 
 one could even make a start Christward without it. 
 We have a genuine sorrow for our sins must make 
 restitution must cease to do evil and learn to do 
 well must "bring forth fruits mete for repentance." 
 
 But it is well known that this frequently inter- 
 feres with business arrangements. That it is liable to 
 entail great financial losses, and perhaps of social 
 position. It is, however, natural that we should shrink 
 from such prospects and hold on to the old life. It 
 is hard to get sinners to truly repent, but it is easy 
 to get them to accept belief, or what they call "faith" 
 as a substitute. But mere belief was never made by 
 Christ a condition of salvation, but a means, rather. 
 Though a wonderful power, it is not great enough to 
 serve the purpose of one who refuses to repent. Be- 
 sides, in these days we do not need to be so vehement- 
 ly exhorted to believe. We already believe. The 
 great necessity is reformation as the result of repen- 
 
100 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 tance, the New Birth, a nd real faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 To study Christ, and preach Him as He appears 
 in the Gospels, this is what we need. He said "My 
 kingdom is not of this world," and no matter how 
 we patch up our theology to suit the world, we cannot 
 change this fact. 
 
 AN INTERIM. 
 
 According to the current chronology, Jesus devoted 
 about thirty months of His ministry preparing the 
 minds of the people to receive His Sermon on the 
 Mount. Had the Jews received Him when He pre- 
 sented Himself and cleansed the Temple, is probable 
 that He would have delivered that sermon at that 
 time, and from the Temple itself. But He was not 
 received, and hence it became necessary to bring the 
 minds of the people to the point where they would 
 accept the principles of His kingdom. This was a 
 slow process, and could be reached only by degrees. 
 The Sermon on the Mount is an epitome of all doc- 
 trine that is worth knowing, and could not be received 
 by the masses until their minds had been thoroughly 
 prepared for it. 
 
 Hence we are astonished to find, that when the 
 great sermon was delivered, about three-fifths of His 
 ministry, so far as time was concerned, had expired. 
 More astonishing still, is the fact that only about one- 
 fifth of it had been recorded. About one whole year 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 101 
 
 is left unnoticed by any except John, and all he re- 
 cords as taking place during that time, could have 
 transpired in about five days. As covering the time 
 between the Temptation and the Sermon on the 
 Mount, Matthew has but thirteen verses. 
 
 This "year f silence*' seems very remarkable, 
 and one naturally wants to know why it was. Jesus 
 being the Messiah, all He did or said must have been 
 of importance, and why was it not all given? It 
 leaves room to surmise that something was wrong 
 with the Gospels, or with the things said or done. Or, 
 it might be imagined that but little transpired. If 
 such were the case, why? 
 
 But a careful study will, I think, disclose the 
 fact that there is probably no reality in any of these 
 suppositions. It can safely be assumed that Jesus was 
 not idle any of this time. He had His work to do and 
 that of the greatest moment. It should first be re- 
 membered that He was "sowing the seed of the king- 
 dom." The people must be prepared by instruction, 
 not only as intimated for the Sermon on the Mount, 
 but also to receive this kingdom at the hands of His 
 Apostles after His death, resurrection and ascension. 
 It was what we would call "a campaign of education." 
 
 But why, it may be asked, was not this part of 
 His teaching as important for us to know as any 
 thing else? The answer is simple, and lies in the fact 
 that this preparatory work concerned the Jews only. 
 It related to the peculiar state of affairs existing among 
 
102 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 them at that time. The scribes were the supreme 
 authority in the law, and they had cumbered it with 
 such a mass of tradition as to almost obscure its 
 original meaning. ThU rubbish must be cleared away 
 and the true object, scope and limitations of the law 
 must be made clear. They had taught that the law 
 should remain forever, and also that Messiah should 
 likewise remain forever, to administer the law, and 
 that Jerusalem should thereby become the capital and 
 metropolis of the world. 
 
 This notion was to them the most sacred of all 
 their beliefs. When we reflect upon the unanimity 
 of public sentiment on this point, and also that the 
 creators and leaders of Jewish thought never for an 
 instant ceased to insist with the utmost vehemence on 
 this point, we are in a position to realize something 
 of the magnitude of this preparatory work, in over- 
 coming this condition of the public mind. 
 
 There is room to believe that even John the 
 Baptist shared in some of these errors, and that his 
 arrest by Herod was to some extent due to the fact 
 that he preached the coming of a kingdom that would 
 supplant the power of Rome. But however this may 
 have been, it is certain that this thought possessed the 
 Jews with a tenacity that would have baffled any but 
 Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 He must show them that He came neither to ad- 
 minister nor to destroy the law, but solely to FULFILL 
 it We find Him frequently assuring them that not 
 
one jot or till* of the law should pais w v until n 
 had been fulfilled, They murt bo gradually brought 
 to iee these things in their true light biforo the Sir- 
 fflon on tl.r Mount could bo dellvurad to thitn, and 
 the fallow ground of thi Jewish mind must Aril be 
 broken up and made fit to receive tho liid thereafter 
 to bo town by tho Apostles, 
 
 Thui it may bo eonjeetured that naarly all tho 
 teaching of Christ during this "y*ar of aHonM/' ai 
 
 wr -ll it, I ll.. Jr.wa only. :,,! ,|,,,n ! 
 
 cern us at all. 1 lenc* it would l> simply a mailer of 
 curiosity to tin. AIM! it WM,,|,| .1,, . ,, ,, I IM r . i 
 
 MHKncI lip II, tl,- inlri'Mh n.,.| nillh' . -I n.,t,...,o :..,! 
 
 N v traditions of tho Bribes and Phariii^ii for thiiy 
 were the ones with whom Hi had moitly to ontendi 
 i Uve no doubt, however, that for tht benefit of in* 
 >' ii'i'nt Jews, a general outline of this teaching hai 
 been preserved in tho Epistle to tho Hibrtwii 
 
 But now, by constant teaching and Incessant 
 labor Hi has at last broken thi graap of thi scribes 
 and Pharisees on thi mind of thi common people, i> 
 is now said that thi common people hear Him gladly, 
 Thi impression Hi has made is tremendous, Hii 
 name hai become a household word* Hi Is without a 
 peer in thi popular mind, and Hi speaks openly "ai 
 
 "'" I- '.,.: I- ". / ""I "-> ' ,. ,, ..I.. , II, 
 
 people desert their synagogues, and iomi to Him in 
 vast multitudes* They stream to Him from all dime* 
 tldtis, even from Jeratulem, thi stronghold of thi 
 
104 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 scribes and Pharisees. His audience includes Gentiles 
 as well as Jews, for one great point of the controversy 
 that has been going on, is that the Jews have no 
 monopoly of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 A NEW DOCTRINE. 
 
 By "doctrine," as understood by us today, we 
 mean some article of faith. It is an expression of our 
 views on any particular religious belief. But our doc- 
 trines of today for the most part concern things about 
 which He had nothing to say. That is the reason why 
 we dispute about them so much. That is, as decisive 
 of the subject we may have under discussion, there 
 is no "thus saith the Lord" with which to measure it. 
 That is also the reason why our doctrines relate large- 
 ly either to subjects of little importance, or to those 
 of interest only to the learned. If common people 
 were under the necessity of solving all, or even a tith 
 of them before being saved, their final doom would 
 be assured. 
 
 But turning from these creeds to Christ, we find 
 that our task of understanding is made very easy. His 
 statement of "doctrine" is axiomatic. He makes "the 
 way so plain that the wayfaring man, though a fool 
 shall not err therein." We soon find that His is not 
 a doctrine of theory, but of practice... His doctrine 
 pertains to the inner life and its outward expression. 
 You might be all wrong as to your guesses concern- 
 ing the Trinity, election and reprobation, baptism, or 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 105 
 
 any other of the kindred questions that have so long 
 divided Christendom into hostile camps, and still 
 enter the kingdom of heaven. He knew the chief 
 difficulty was in the heart and not in the head. He 
 knew that whoever did the will of his Father in 
 heaven, * 'would know of the doctrine," and that the 
 great difficulty was to persuade the people to 
 recognize and do that will. 
 
 But how different was the current theology of 
 that day to such a doctrine! How strangely unfamiliar 
 must His first utterances in His Sermon on the Mount, 
 have sounded on the ears of the waiting and anxious 
 multitude! They had been instructed from childhood 
 that "Cursed is he who continueth not in all things 
 written in the Law to do them.*' It had been to them 
 a dispensation of affliction. Its key note had been 
 the thunderings of Sinai. 
 
 We are told that there were "great multitudes 
 from Gallilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusa- 
 lem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan." The 
 wonder-working Rabbi had at last gained the full con- 
 fidence of the masses, and they were ready to receive 
 the message He had for them. What would He 
 require of them? They waited with bated breath 
 that they might hear all that He might say. No such 
 occasion had ever presented itself since Moses came 
 down from the Mount and found their fathers wor- 
 shipping the golden calf. The day, the hour, every 
 instant was big with meaning for them and their chil- 
 
106 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 dren. They were like prisoners at the bar, "waiting 
 for the verdict." What would it be? for it was cer- 
 tain that this was the Messiah, and that He held their 
 destinies in His hands. Would it still be "CURSED?" 
 We can imagine that as at last as this man who 
 held the issues of life and death in His hands, opened 
 His mouth to speak, He raised His hands as in bene- 
 diction, and a smile lighting up His face, spread as a 
 divine halo about His head. Listen! He utters the 
 word "BLESSED!" What music that to ears that 
 had been attuned only to "CURSED!" and this word 
 "BLESSED" marks the change from the OLD to the 
 NEW. A new turn of affairs, and a new day has at 
 last come, and a new kingdom has arisen! To the 
 anxiously waiting multitude, there was no dawn to 
 this first day of the New Kingdom. The Sun flashed 
 suddenly upon it in full sky. At the first word of the 
 great Rabbi, every cloud rolled away, and it is at last 
 seen that the orb of day had been beating against 
 them all the time, and they knew it not. 
 
 But listen and learn who are the "blessed." "Bless- 
 ed are the POOR IN SPIRIT, for theirs is the king- 
 dom of God." What a burden did that short sen- 
 tence roll from many a weary and saddened heart! 
 A great wave of relief passes over this human sea. He 
 waits for it to reach the fartherest limits of the multi- 
 tude. The sensation it creates is like that of an elec- 
 tric current proceeding from Him as a human dynamo. 
 But hark! He speaks again: "Blessed are they 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 107 
 
 that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Ah, that 
 is Gospel indeed. "They that mourn," what a mul- 
 titude that covers! And it is so strange and new to 
 connect mourning with blessing. "They shall be com- 
 forted," what volumes of tenderness it speaks to 
 the sorrowing. 
 
 But the Rabbi continues: "Blessed are the 
 meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 
 
 Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after 
 righteousness, for they shall be filled. 
 
 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
 God. 
 
 Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be 
 called the children of God. 
 
 It can easily be imagined that by this time the 
 scribes and Pharisees become livid with anger. They 
 are in a rage as they see the mutitude hanging with 
 rapture upon the words or the Nazarene. Turning 
 now upon these enemies of His until all eyes are 
 riveted upon them, He says: "Blessed are they which 
 are persecuted for righteousness* sake, for theirs is the 
 kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall 
 revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner 
 of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and 
 be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in hea- 
 ven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were 
 before you." 
 
 Thus starting with a benediction, he ends with a 
 hallelujah. Between the two, and covering every 
 
108 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 contingency that could arise, bliss reigns in all its 
 beautitude. And the wonder of it is that it comes to 
 the reviled, the persecuted, the poor in spirit and them 
 that mourn. What a splendid creed, and what a cate- 
 chism for the children! 
 
 Question: Who are the Blessed? 
 Answer: The poor in spirit. 
 They that mourn. 
 The meek. 
 They which do hunger and thirst after 
 
 righteousness. 
 The merciful. 
 The pure in heart. 
 The peacemakers. 
 
 They which are persecuted for right- 
 eousness* sake. 
 When are ye blessed? 
 
 Answer: When men shall revile you and per- 
 secute you and say all manner of evil against you 
 FALSELY, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE. 
 
 What are such people to do? Are they to re- 
 vile again? 
 
 Answer: No, they are to REJOICE and be EX- 
 CEEDINGLY GLAD. 
 Why? 
 
 Answer: Because great is their reward in heaven. 
 
 It will be observed that here are four blessings, 
 
 that signify states or conditions, to-wit: the poor in 
 
 spirit, the meek, the merciful and the pure in heart.. 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 109 
 
 Then there are three, to-wit: they that mourn, they 
 that hunger and thirst after righteousness, and the 
 peacemakers, that represent action. The last two, the 
 persecuted and reviled, represent that which the 
 world gives in exchange for the preceding seven. 
 
 TRUE ORTHODOXY. 
 
 But it is not my purpose to give a homily on 
 the Sermon on the Mount. The comment made is 
 given only to call attention to the change it made in 
 the thought and feeling of the world. It is its own 
 commentary, and as the constitution of Christ's king- 
 dom, it stands as the authority for the settlement of 
 all questions worth settling. It is the only true doc- 
 trine the real orthodoxy. To carry it into effect 
 would be to bring the Golden Age, when nothing 
 would hurt in all God's Holy Mountain. It stands as 
 the first and only complete expression, of God's will 
 toward man. Therefore, like its divine author, it can 
 have no rival. 
 
 Both in spirtual and temporal affairs, it is a sure 
 and safe guide. It shows how to live in harmony with 
 the divine law, and still get on in the world. It is as 
 complete from the standpoint of business as of grace. 
 Nothing is left out. It was intended for every condi- 
 tion of life. It is for the use of those who are engaged 
 in the struggle for existence. For those who are bur- 
 dened with responsibility, but who are loyal through 
 it all to Christ. Knowing that this is hard to do, He 
 
110 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 has in this discourse furnished us with an equipment 
 that makes us equal to the task. 
 
 Not that it removes our difficulties, but that it 
 provides the means with which to deal with them. 
 With grace and backbone and the Sermon on the 
 Mount, we may successfully meet every contingency. 
 But it offers no promise to any but those described 
 in the Beautitudes. It is for their sole and only use 
 and behoof. The promise goes only with the com- 
 mandment. In other words, His kingdom though in 
 the world, is not of the world. It proceeds strictly 
 on the lines laid down in this document. So long as 
 His people observe and do whatsoever is therein 
 written, they will be the happiest people on earth 
 in other words, BLESSED. 
 
 Such people will like Him, stand unmoved in 
 the midst of the tumults of life, and the storm shall 
 beat upon them in vain. They can say with the great 
 Apostle to the Gentiles, "None of these things move 
 me." They will have troubles, and perhaps hard 
 ones, but theirs will be the compensations of victory. 
 These constitute the only true Orthodoxy, and all 
 others are hererodox, no matter what they profess. 
 Then away with all this haggling and driveling over 
 theological conundrums. Let us turn our backs on 
 "doubtful disputations," and go back to the Sermon 
 on the Mount. Here we can touch solid ground, or 
 the Rock of Ages, rather, for hear His conclusion: 
 "Every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 111 
 
 doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which 
 built his house upon a rock, and the rain descended 
 and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 
 upon that house and it fell not, for it was founded 
 upon a rock." 
 
 SATAN CAST OUT. 
 
 The subject of demoniacale possession is one 
 that, by a certain class of writers, is handled very 
 gingerly. They generally hasten to assure their 
 readers that they are not at all impressed with the 
 idea that those who are said to have been possessed 
 with devils were as a matter of fact so possessed with 
 real devils, but only so supposed to be by people of 
 that day. The devils mentioned were purely imagin- 
 ary. The victims were in fact nothing more than luna- 
 tics. But if such was the case, there is no reliance to 
 be placed on the accounts of the Evangelists. The 
 language of Matthew, for instance, is specific on the 
 subject. Here it is: "And they brought unto Him 
 all sick people that were taken with divers diseases 
 and torments, and those which were possessed with 
 devils, and those which were lunatic, and those which 
 had the palsy, and He healed them." Here we see 
 those possessed with devils in the same sentence 
 spoken of in contrast with those who were lunatics. 
 There can be no mistake as to the meaning of this 
 passage. Besides there were many cases in which that 
 which possessed their victims had intelligence, identity 
 
112 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 and personality. Christ conversed with them. As 
 to these facts there cannot be the least shadow of 
 doubt. It is made so plain and emphatic that it 
 seems impossible even to raise a doubt about it. 
 
 Christ Himself had passed through the ordeal of 
 a person conflict with Satan, and aside from His 
 divine character, His personal knowledge on the sub- 
 ject must outweigh all our own notions on the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 After delivering the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus 
 returned to Capernaum followed by the multitudes. 
 After healing a leper, the Centurian's servant and 
 Peter's mother-in-law, they brought to Him many that 
 were possessed with devils, and He cast them out with 
 a word. It is no use to deny the fact that Jesus claim- 
 ed to cost out devils, and whoever disputes that He 
 did, cannot have much faith in other things related of 
 Him. 
 
 It must have seemed strange to the multitudes 
 about Him that in the midst of His work He should 
 leave them and go to the other side of the sea into 
 the land of Gadara, which was inhabited with a half 
 heathenish people who were herders of swine. But 
 He had a great work to do over there. Two misera- 
 ble and helpless creatures had been brought into cap- 
 tivity by devils, and He must go and set them at 
 liberty. They were exceedingly fierce, and a terror to 
 the surrounding country. As settling the question as 
 to whether or not they were merely insane, but actual- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 113 
 
 ly possessed with devils, Jesus asks one of them his 
 name, and is told that it is "Legion." The fact that 
 they were permitted to enter a herd a swine, which 
 thereupon ran violently into the sea, shows conclusive- 
 ly that whatever it was that possessed the demoniacs, 
 it had entity and personality of its own. 
 
 The fact of demoniacal possession and the cast- 
 ing out of devils, is so often plainly stated in the evan- 
 gelists, that there can be no mistake about it. The 
 leaders of the Jews did not deny that they were cast 
 out by Christ. In fact they affirmed that He cast 
 them out by Beelzebub, the prince of devils, and right 
 there they came perilously near committing the un- 
 pardonable sin by ascribing the works of God to 
 Satan. Christ spoke of His casting out devils as a 
 sign of his messiahship. In fact it is so often and 
 planly spoken of that it is almost sultifying to argue 
 the question. 
 
 The other case in which He sought out an op- 
 portunity like that in the land of Gadara, was when 
 He went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. This case 
 of the healing of the daughter of the woman of 
 Ganaan, is, in some respects, the most impressive of 
 any of His ministrations. It would seem from the 
 narrative, that He did not go there to minister to this 
 woman, and at first He actually refused her. But it 
 was the only transaction He had in that country, and 
 hence we cannot avoid the conclusion that such was 
 His sole object. His seeming hesitation in complying 
 
H4 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 with the woman's pleading must have been premedi- 
 tated, and with the purpose of granting the prayer 
 from the start. 
 
 One important fact in connection with this oc- 
 currence, is that it is the only instance in which Christ 
 suffered Himself to be overcome in argument. As 
 she cried after Him, He "answered her not a word." 
 But she continued, and His disciples became worried, 
 and asked Him to send her away. "For," they say, 
 "she crieth after us." But he answered her and said, 
 "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house 
 of Israel." To this she still plead, "Lord help me." 
 This was as much as to say, "I know that I am not of 
 the house of Israel, and am what the Jews call 'a gen- 
 tile dog/ but I am in need. My daughter is grieviously 
 vexed with a devil." At this Jesus answers her in a 
 seemingly cruel manner. "It is not mete," He said, 
 "to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs." 
 
 Now the disciples no doubt thought that she 
 would cease to trouble them. But no, on the contrary 
 they were about to be taught the power of real faith. 
 Her answer reminds us of wresting Jacob, who refused 
 to let his adversary go without being blessed by Him. 
 It was the sublimity of persistant faith: "Truth, Lord, 
 yet the dogs eat of the crums which fall from the mas- 
 ter's table." What an answer and how remarkable 
 the response! He had said to others, "be it accord- 
 ing to thy faith," but to this gentile woman He an- 
 swered, "be it unto thee EVEN AS THOU WILT!" In 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 115 
 
 other words this was carte blanc. "Even as thou 
 wilt," and persistent faith had its own way. Truly 
 great is Faith when backed by the spirit shown by this 
 poor woman. 
 
 The being possessed by a devil involved personal 
 contact with these foul and hideous enemies of God 
 and man. It follows that it must have been full of un- 
 speakable horrors. The vile spirit gained such con- 
 trol of its victims as to dominate every word and ac- 
 tion. In the one sense that the possessed lost control 
 of himself, it resembled insanity, but in this particular 
 only. The loss of control consisted in being under 
 control of an intelligence greater than himself. 
 
 Imagine yourself brought under the control of a 
 power that is all evil and vile. Then consider the 
 necessary personal contact as this foul creature folds 
 you in its slimy embrace! Then realize, if you can, 
 that this repulsive thing should compel you to say and 
 do all that was hateful and odious to you! By this 
 process you may be able to arrive at some conclusion 
 as to the condition of those whom Jesus delivered 
 from such bondage. 
 
 It is worthy of note that the prime instrument to 
 enable evil spirits to bring about this condition, was 
 the one employed by Satan in the temptation of 
 Christ. This was the power of suggestion. Is it pos- 
 sible that had Christ yielded, He, too, would have 
 been so possessed? The aim of Satan as revealed in 
 his language, "If thou wilt fall down and worship 
 
116 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 me," seems to plainly imply such a contingency. Had 
 such a thing been possible, Satan would not only have 
 gained control politically,., but., personally, as well 
 Every man, woman and child would have been at his 
 
 mercy. 
 
 But no matter in what way it was done, nor what 
 possibilities Satan had in view, it is certain that no 
 part of Gospel history is better authenticated. Though 
 peculiar to that era, it existed then, and Christ de- 
 livered from it all who were brought to Him and per- 
 haps there are thousands of cases not mentioned, in 
 which He intervened. Even the scribes and Pharisees 
 were compelled to acknowledge the power of Jesus 
 in this respect. When the blind and dumb devil was 
 cast out, the only explanation they could give was that 
 He cast out devils by the prince of devils. 
 
 THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 
 
 The casting out of devils by our Lord (for 
 Christ having come, "Satan came also") caused great 
 excitement at that time. It has also, in certain quarters, 
 caused much discussion since. The Pharisees were 
 specially exercised over it, and as hereinbefore men- 
 tioned, ascribed His power to Beelzebub, the prince of 
 devils. They did not go so far, however, as some of 
 our modern critics, and claim that devils were not 
 in fact cast out. There were the facts as palpable as 
 anything in plain sight. Could they have done so, they 
 would have set up the claim, like some of today, that 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 117 
 
 those thus delivered were merely insane. They would 
 have invented some such excuse for the healing. Or 
 would possibly have claimed that He used some sort 
 of magic. 
 
 But there was no grounds for such contention. 
 They were bound to admit that wonderful works had 
 been wrought, and the only way in which they could 
 meet the situation, was to claim that He cast out devils 
 by the prince of devils. This was ascribing the works 
 of God to the devil, which Jesus declared to be an 
 unpardonable sin, it being the sin against the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 For one who has become so hopelessly abandon- 
 ed as to attribute the works of the Spirit to the devil, 
 has reached that point in a downward career where 
 he entirely severs himself from the Spirit of God. To 
 those who have not thus placed themselves outside 
 His influence, the Holy Ghost always attests His 
 work. It is authenticated and confirmed unmistake- 
 ably. Therefore, those who ascribe His works to 
 Satan, must previously have rejected and separated 
 themselves from and refused to be influenced by Him. 
 And, as it is the Holy Ghost that leads up to repent- 
 ance, how can such an one repent? And if he cannot 
 repent, how can he be saved? 
 
 This seems to be the logic of the case, and those 
 who raise a question as to this great work of the Holy 
 Ghost in casting out devils, or in casting out sin from 
 the human heart, and say, "How can these things 
 
118 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 be," are, to say the least, treading on dangerous 
 ground. By persevering in this direction, they may 
 finally come to a point where they will entirely reject 
 the work of the Holy Ghost, and thereby place them- 
 selves outside His influence. Henceforth they are 
 beyond the possibility of repentance, and therefore of 
 salvation. 
 
 The Pharisees uttered against Jesus the most 
 malignant and loathsome slanders, to-wit: That He 
 had a devil. Yet he said: " Whosoever speaks a 
 word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven 
 him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy 
 Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this 
 world, neither in the world to come." There must, 
 therefore, be an ciwful significance to this sin that so 
 distinguishes it from all others. It must have been 
 this sin that caused the destruction of the ante-delu- 
 vian world. At that time God said, "My Spirit shall 
 not always strive with man,*' thus indicating that the 
 then existing people had resisted the Holy Ghost until 
 they had become hopelessly depraved. If this were 
 so it would be an act of mercy to unborn generations 
 to remove them. But be this as it may, it is certain 
 that there is no hope for any that commits this sin. 
 
 THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES AGAIN. 
 
 As for the scribes and Pharisees, they had from 
 time to time, witnessed the most amazing works of 
 divine power at the hands of Christ. Surrounded by 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 119 
 
 these conclusive tokens of His Messiahship, they still 
 called for a "sign/* as though "signs" were not already 
 as thick as sands on the sea shore. He reminded them 
 that though they could discern the signs of the sky, 
 yet through their blindness and hypocracy they could 
 not discern the signs of the times, and furthermore 
 that no sign should be given them but the sign of 
 Jonas the prophet. 
 
 They had been rejected by John the Baptist, be- 
 cause they failed to "bring forth fruits mete for re- 
 pentance," and we are not surprised that they set 
 themselves to oppose Christ from the start. They 
 consistently held to that course to the end. And this 
 regardless of His miracles, or His unassailable purity 
 of character. They first tried to entangle Him in His 
 speech. They never made this attempt, however, 
 without afterward being sorry for it. They were al- 
 ways the ones to get entangled. He never failed to 
 catch them in their own trap. In every attempt dis- 
 appointed, moved by malice and controlled by hy- 
 pocracy, they reach the uttermost of human folly. 
 They had evidently committed the sin against the 
 Holy Ghost, and Christ turns His back upon them. 
 Henceforth He speaks in parables only, leaving them 
 in their darkness and superstition. From that time on 
 they were chiefly busy finding some way to destroy 
 Him. They begin to show their animus, which some 
 of the disciples report to Christ. To this he answers, 
 "Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. 
 
12 Q THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into 
 the ditch." 
 
 'WHOSE SON IS HE?" 
 
 He finally begins to speak to his disciples re- 
 garding His coming death by crucifixion. He asks 
 them, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man 
 am? And they said unto Him, 'Some say that Thou 
 art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, 
 or one of the prophets/ He saith unto them, 'But 
 whom say that I am?' and Simon Peter answered 
 and said *Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God/ " 
 
 He had now reached a crisis in His ministry, and 
 prepares for the final great effort. He travels continu- 
 ally and labors incessantly. He teaches, heals and 
 casts out devils. He is finishing the foundation on 
 which His disciples are to build His kingdom. He 
 is constantly in the public eye, and the opinions as to 
 who He was appear to have been various. All sorts 
 of conjectures were indulged in. They varied accord- 
 ing to the peculiar notions of those who entertained 
 them. It will, I think, be profitable in the Study of 
 Christ, to stop at this place and take note of the opin- 
 ions of the various elements of society at that time: 
 
 1. Herod's guilty conscience tormented Him 
 with the belief that Christ was John the Baptist raised 
 from the dead. 
 
 2. The scribes, Pharisees and rulers, were di- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 121 
 
 vided in opinion. No doubt many of them believed 
 Him to be Messiah or at least a Prophet. As to the 
 Pharisees, we have already seen what they did, and it 
 matters not what they thought. This, of course, ap- 
 plies to them as a body, and not to individuals who 
 dissented from them. The Saducees constituted the 
 priesthood, and stood next to the Roman power. 
 They were opposed to Him if for no other reason than 
 His cleaning of the temple, for He thereby placed 
 Himself against an important graft. They were also 
 afraid that He would bring on them the Romans, who 
 would take away from them the little authority that 
 was left them. 
 
 3. The publicans, who were universally hated, 
 recognized in Him the only Rabbi who did not despise 
 them. They probably for the most part deserved 
 their reputation, but Christ recognized an honest man 
 wherever He saw him, whether "in the uppermost 
 seats of the synagogues," or sitting at the receipt of 
 customs, collecting an odious tax. And so, before 
 the multitude He called Zacheus down from the tree 
 and went to dine with him, much to the disgust of the 
 upper classes that He should go to dine with a pub- 
 lican and a sinner. From these circumstances, it is 
 easy to infer that the publicans and sinners were ready 
 to accept Him in any capacity He might present Him- 
 self. 
 
 4. His kinfolks shared the popular notions as 
 to the materiality of Messiah's kingdom. His Sermon 
 
122 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 on the Mount was strangely out of tune with that no- 
 notion, and they thought He was beside Himself. 
 
 5. The devils knew Him as the Christ, and in 
 fear and trembling besought Him to deal tenderly 
 with them. 
 
 6. Then there were the multitudes to whom He 
 ministered. As to them and their friends there could 
 be but one opinion as to His miraculous power. 
 
 7. The Gallileans had always received Him 
 with joy, and in vast numbers they followed Him 
 in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 
 
 8. The five thousand men whom he fed on 
 five loaves and two fishes, endeavored to take Him 
 by force and make Him king. The object was to 
 secure a king who could thus feed them. He turned 
 on them with a stern rebuke, and from that on they 
 ceased to follow Him. (Would that our modern 
 seekers for the loaves and fishes would have the grace 
 to do as much.) 
 
 9. At this point Jesus says to the twelve, "Will 
 ye also go away." This causes Peter to say, "Lord to 
 whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal 
 life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God." So after so long 
 a time, one at least has a correct idea as to the Char- 
 acter of Christ 
 
 This much is certain, that during this time, there 
 was, wherever He went, great excitement amongst 
 the people. This was not only because of the works 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 123 
 
 He did, but also because of the newness of His doc- 
 trine, and the vigor and openness by which He de- 
 nounced the scribes and Pharisees. 
 
 But though the people followed Him, and heard 
 Him gladly, they would not repent. They looked 
 rather for Him to do some great thing against the 
 Romans. This was to them the one object worth 
 striving for. He could get no one to understand. 
 Even Peter, who believed Him to be the very Christ, 
 could go no further than that. He was ignorant 
 of the true character of His kingdom until long after 
 the ascension. 
 
 At this time the Pharisees and Saducees take the 
 offensive. They go from Jerusalem into Gallilee for 
 that purpose. They find that they must overcome 
 or be overcome. The case with them has become 
 desperate, and they must act at once. So we find 
 in Matthew the following: 
 
 From that time forth began Jesus to show to His 
 disciples how He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer 
 many things of the elders and chief priests and 
 scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third 
 day. 
 
 Six days after this saying occurred His trans- 
 figuration at which Moses and Elias appeared and 
 talked with Him about his descease which He was 
 to accomplish at Jerusalem. And immediately after 
 this we find Him discoursing again to His disciples 
 about His death, saying, "The Son of man shall be 
 
124 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill 
 Him, and the third day He shall be raised again." 
 
 A NEW FEELING. 
 
 As the time drew nigh for His final entry into 
 Jerusalem, His activity must needs increase with the 
 demands of His work and the shortness of time. A 
 new feeling with regard to Him began to develop. 
 It was felt both by His friends and His foes. They 
 discovered in Him an irresistible force which they 
 could not understand, and the outcome of which they 
 could not divine. This gave rise to a feeling akin to 
 fear. After nineteen hundred years, such a thought 
 seems strange to us, but if we reflect on the condi- 
 tions then existing; we shall cease to wonder. 
 
 To get the idea right, we must consider several 
 things: In the first place, those who rejected Him 
 as the Messiah, could account for Him in no rational 
 way. The power He exercised over the material 
 world as well as over evil spirits, was to them an 
 enigma. The only way out of the dilemma was either 
 the absurd notion that He was one of the prophets 
 raised from the dead, or that as the Pharisees claim- 
 ed, He had a devil, or that He was indeed the Christ. 
 
 Herod evidently feared to have Him within his 
 dominions, and doubtless was at the bottom of the 
 advice of the Pharisees when they said: "Get Thee 
 out and depart hence, for Herod will kill Thee." To 
 this He answered, "Go ye and tell that fox, 'Behold I 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 125 
 
 cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, 
 and the next day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I 
 must walk today and tomorrow and the day follow- 
 ing, for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of 
 Jerusalem.' ' 
 
 To the chief men of the Jews, there was some- 
 thing utterly inconsistent in the whole situation, and 
 the same idea infected, even the immediate followers 
 of Christ. It came about in the following way: He 
 did the works of the Messiah, but His Sermon on the 
 Mount, and His constant utterances, were at vari- 
 ance with their ingrained ideas as to Messiah's king- 
 dom. His teachings could, by no possible construc- 
 tion, foreshadow any of those powers known to kings 
 as effective in establishing or maintaining authority. 
 On the contrary He renounced and denounced all 
 such things. No worldly kingdom could be set up 
 or run on the theory of the Beatitudes. All His 
 words and actions were completely at variance with 
 the militant idea. Hence how could He set up or rule 
 from the throne of David ? But He surely had miracu- 
 lous power, or at least could do as He pleased. Here- 
 in was food for serious thought. In spite of His 
 strange doctrine, He might be the Messiah after all. 
 
 Now what if it should turn out that He was the 
 Messiah and, as some asserted, that He had gone 
 mad? What would be the result? Did not His own 
 kin assert that he was "beside Himself?" What was 
 this about His being the bread of life? and about 
 
12 6 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 His disciples eating His flesh and drinking His blood? 
 And what about this wild talk of rebuilding the tem- 
 ple in three days, and the sign of the prophet Jonas? 
 And what of this impossible idea of being born again? 
 And to give further support to this theory that He had 
 gone mad, His hostility was aroused against the rulers 
 of the Jews, and not their enemies, the Romans. They 
 could not understand what all these things meant. 
 
 Even the Apostles were at this time afraid of 
 Him. When He spoke of going to Jerusalem, and 
 as to what should happen there, we are told, "they 
 understood not that saying, and dare not ask Him/* 
 Then we find this entry: "And they were in the way 
 going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them, 
 and they were amazed. And as they followed, they 
 were afraid." Of what were they afraid? Was it of 
 personal injury, or rather was it a vague, indefinite 
 fear as of one standing in the presence of some mighty 
 and mysterious Power Whose limits they could not 
 define, and Whose action they could not foresee? His 
 restless energy and apparent threats lent weight to 
 such a suggestion: "I come/' he said, "to send fire 
 on earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? 
 But I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I 
 straightened until it be accomplished? Suppose ye 
 that I am come to give peace on the earth? I tell you, 
 nay, but rather division/' 
 
 These events created a dread in the minds of 
 all concerned. They could not be accounted for on 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 127 
 
 any hypothesis then known, either by His followers or 
 His antagonists. As for the former, they followed 
 Him as far as Gethsemine. And even here Peter 
 would defend Him with his sword, but met such a 
 rebuke that it seems temporarily, he lost his faith 
 in Him. As for His antagonists, they saw that the 
 crisis was near, and that they must, as hereinbefore 
 stated, overcome or be overcome. 
 
 As for Jesus Himself, no fact is more patent than 
 that He knew the end was near. He contemplated 
 and spoke of His death soon to follow. He pre- 
 pared in the most systematic way for it. Not to say, 
 however, that He connived at it, but as knowing that 
 it must needs happen. The events that preceded it 
 are followed up with a consistency that leaves no 
 doubt on that score. The manner of its accomplish- 
 ment unfolded before Him. In the way thus pointed 
 out, He walked with promptness and decision. Had 
 He not talked with Moses and Elias about it on the 
 Mount of Transfiguration? and did He not see that 
 it should happen through the iniative of the chief 
 men of the Jews, and not of the Romans? 
 
 THE PLOT THICKENS. 
 
 Well these men knew that they must now fight 
 for very existence. On the part of the rulers it was 
 a matter of politics, and herein of bread and butter. 
 As to the scribes and Pharisees, it was a matter of 
 business, and herein of bread and butter also, for if 
 
128 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 they lost their ascendency over the Jewish mind, they 
 could no longer "devour widow's houses/* The pre- 
 tense of "long prayers" would no longer be effective. 
 With them besides was the stimulous of malice to 
 urge them to desperation. 
 
 The efforts of both parties were directed toward 
 the one point, to-wit, that He was not the Messiah. If 
 they could establish this, they were safe. If they 
 failed, they must of necessity become involved in ut- 
 ter ruin. The scribes and Pharisees had seen this 
 from the beginning. Being rejected of John, they 
 could expect no better of Christ. So they were active 
 against Him from the start, and followed Him from 
 place to place. They were everywhere on all occas- 
 ions, raising questions and demanding "signs." One 
 of their favorite methods of creating prejudice against 
 Him, was to express horror that He or His disciples 
 should violate the Sabbath. With regard to this day 
 they had taught the people many artificial and sense- 
 less formalities. Instead of making it a day of rest, 
 they had converted it into a superstition, and a means 
 of oppression. But Jesus brought them back to its 
 real intention, and that with a turn. He said the Sab- 
 bath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. 
 At the same time He declared Himself the Lord of 
 the Sabbath. How their holy souls must have been 
 shocked at such words! So after He had said this and 
 healed the man with the withered hand, the Pharisees 
 went out and laid another plot to destroy Him. 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 129 
 
 But if they should slay Him without showing 
 that He was an imposter, the people would visit His 
 blood upon them. Again if He were the Christ, they 
 supposed that He could not be slain at all, as He 
 would remain forever. Therefore, there must be a 
 showing to the effect that He was not the Christ that 
 should come. This might be done in two ways: >. 
 
 1. Demonstrate that He was at fault in His 
 teaching. 
 
 2. Prove Him to be a sinner. 
 
 The first mentioned seemed the easiest and safest 
 way. In this they employed all their subtility and 
 learning. They had the advantage of choosing their 
 own subjects and occasions. They pitted against Him 
 their shrewdest wranglers. But they made no head- 
 way. In fact they seldom came out whole. He had 
 the unpleasant habit of turning the tables by counter- 
 questions which either they could not or dare not 
 answer. In this way He made them the laughing 
 stock of the people. 
 
 But with a persistency worthy of a better cause, 
 they followed this course until His triumphant entry 
 into Jerusalem. Then it became the duty of the chief 
 priests and elders to undertake to confute Him. This 
 they were quick to do, but it was to their chagrin. 
 The results were extremely disastrous, and they with- 
 drew badly "mussed up." At this time the Pharisees, 
 not satisfied with their previous experiences, try their 
 hands again. They now had a poser that would get 
 
13 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 Him into trouble, which ever way he might answer 
 it It was about paying tribute to Caesar, but they 
 went away marveling at His answer. 
 
 Now the Saducees had a favorite question about 
 the resurrection, with which they used to "stump" 
 the Pharisees. They brought it to Christ, and when 
 they slunk away, were "wiser if not better men." 
 Though the scribes and Pharisees were pleased that 
 He had put the Saducees to shame, they gathered in 
 a body and waited upon Him with the evident purpose 
 of crying Him down; but He answered their question 
 even to the satisfaction of the lawyer they put forth 
 to propound it. But now He takes the aggressive, and 
 forever puts an end to their catechizing. I quote from 
 Matthew: 
 
 "While the Pharisees were gathered together, 
 Jesus answered them, saying: What think ye of 
 Christ? Whose Son is He? They say unto Him the 
 son of David. He saith unto them, How then does 
 David in spirit call Him Lord?, saying, the Lord 
 said unto my Lord, sit Thou on My right hand, till I 
 make Thine enemies Thy footstool? If David then 
 call Him Lord, how is He his son? And no man was 
 able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man 
 from that day forth, ask Him any more questions." 
 
 Thus ended in ignominious failure the first part 
 of the scheme, and the alternative must now be work- 
 ed for all it is worth. The Pharisees went to the chief 
 priests and they had a consultation. This was the con- 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 131 
 
 elusion to which they came: "What do we? For this 
 man doeth many miracles. If we leave Him thus 
 alone, all men will believe on Him, and the Romans 
 shall come and take away both our place and nation." 
 This appealed very strongly to the chief priests, but 
 the Pharisees when by themselves reasoned as fol- 
 lows: "The Pharisees therefore said among them- 
 selves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing Behold 
 the world is gone after Him." 
 
 The only thing now that could be done was to 
 prove Him to be a sinner, and hence not the Messiah. 
 That He was a sinner, they had no doubt. Had he 
 not made Himself the Son of God? Had He not 
 openly violated the Sabbath? Did He not say that 
 He would rebuild the temple in three days, thus prov- 
 ing that He was mad? Had He not denounced them 
 before the people as hypocrites, as vipers, as serpents 
 and as painted sepulchurs? Miracle or no miracle, 
 He was a sinner, and if they could once get Him within 
 their power, they could prove it. 
 
 But how to do this was the question, for they 
 feared the people. Now Jesus had performed a mira- 
 cle that at once helped and hindered them in their 
 efforts. It was the raising of Lazarus after he had 
 been four days dead. Lazarus being a noted man, 
 living near to Jerusalem, the miracle was a dangerous 
 one for them, and they planned to put Lazarus to 
 death, also. It was because of this miracle that Mary 
 anointed Christ. This caused Judas Iscariot to pretend 
 
132 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 to be greatly outraged because of the wasting of the 
 ointment. Being rebuked by Christ because of his 
 assumed care for the poor, he went to the chief priests 
 and offered to deliver Him to them privately. At 
 this point began the other and remaining part of the 
 program, to-wit: The attempt to convict Him of sin. 
 Now the rulers of the Jews had the following 
 additional reasons for not accepting Christ: They 
 knew that when Messias should come He would be 
 the end and fulfillment of the law. That thereupon 
 the scepter should "depart from Judah," and that 
 unto Christ should "the gathering of the people be." 
 The temple services, with all their rich emoluments 
 would have no further legal status. Consequently 
 it was with them a case of Othelo's occupation being 
 gone. As herein before stated, it was a case of poli- 
 tics, and with the hangerson at the temple, a matter of 
 bread and butter. 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 
 
 They finally had Jesus in their hands, to do with 
 as they pleased They were sure that now they could 
 prove the falacy of His claims. And there had come 
 over the Nazarine a change that seemed to augur 
 well for them. He no longer prevented them, but 
 yielded Himself unresistingly into their hands. 
 
 But we must go back a little in order to see why 
 this is so: On His triumphal entry into the Holy 
 City, He entered the temple and * 'looked around 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 133 
 
 upon all the things,* * and it being evening, retired to 
 Bethany. Returning in the morning, He again "cast 
 out them that bought and sold in the temple, and 
 overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the 
 seats of them that sold doves, and would not suffer 
 that any man should carry a vessel through the tem- 
 ple. And He taught them, saying, "My house shall 
 be called of all nations the house of prayer, but ye 
 have made it a den of thieves." By the next day 
 the chief priests and scribes and elders had sufficiently 
 recovered themselves to ask Him by what authority 
 He did these things. But this He refused to tell 
 them because they declined to say whether or not the 
 baptism of John was from heaven or of men. 
 
 At this point something strange happened. The 
 shadow of Calvary fell upon Him. When told of cer- 
 tain Greeks who desired to see Him, he said: "The 
 hour is come when the Son of man shall be glorified. 
 # * * Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I 
 say? Father save Me from this hour." The dark- 
 ness is gathering around him. "Father save Me from 
 this hour" is a new prayer for Him. It may have in- 
 dicated that from hence forth He must walk along. 
 It is unlawful for Him to use His power and authority 
 in His own behalf, and He must now passively submit 
 to all this precious set of villains see fit to subject Him 
 to. But there is an aweful preparation for Him to go 
 through before He enters upon this ordeal. 
 
 It is Gethsemene that He first must face. There 
 
134 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 we find Him "sore amazed * and horror stricken. His 
 soul becomes exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. 
 Desolate and undone, prone and prostrate, His oozing 
 blood staining the ground, in His transports of woe 
 He turns to His disciples, but in vain. But He will 
 drink THE CUP if His Father wills. What it was, I 
 dare not even guess. I can only stand in awe. At 
 last an angel appears and strengthens Him. Was it 
 that He might live? Again I stand in awe and dare 
 not guess. 
 
 But the hour at last arrived for Him to be be- 
 trayed and delivered into the hands of those who now 
 undertake to prove Him to be a sinner and hence 
 not the Christ. In spite of all that was done by the 
 prevailing party, there were still many of the rulers 
 and chief men who believd on Him, but like Nico- 
 demus, secretly for fear of the Jews. Indeed, after 
 what has been said about Him, Nicodemus must be 
 given credit for having on a previous occasion, pro- 
 tested when the counsel proceeded to condemn Christ 
 in advance, that the law did not condemn any one 
 without a hearing. But they soon silenced him with 
 the question, "Art thou also of Gallilee? Search and 
 look, for out of Gallilee ariseth no prophet/* This 
 was enough for Nicodemus, and he at once subsided. 
 Of course none of these men made any showing for 
 Him in the hour of His humiliation. Neither before 
 Annas, nor Caiaphas, neither before Herod nor Pilate 
 did they raise a voice once for the Nazarine. Not a 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 135 
 
 counselor, nor a lawyer in all Jerusalem to plead his 
 cause ! 
 
 'BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD/' 
 But He is dragged before Annas, and by Him 
 sent to Gaiphas. Here they were all assembled pre- 
 pared to demonstrate that He could be made to com- 
 mit sin and hence was not Messias. Those having 
 Him in charge were well instructed, and surely did 
 their parts well. Under pretense that He had com- 
 mitted contempt of court, one of the officers struck 
 Him. You can imagine the men who had brought 
 about the scene, craning their necks to see what the 
 effect would be. Dazed and staggering from the 
 blow, it was expected that He would show fear or re- 
 sentment, or do or say something that would justify 
 the arrest. But they were again disappointd. He 
 calmly replies to the fellow who struck Him, "If I 
 have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, 
 why smiteth thou me?" He is taken before Pilate, 
 then to Herod and back to Pilate again. They spit 
 in His face, they strike Him with their fists, and with 
 the palms of their hands. They mock and deride 
 Him. They press upon His head a crown of thorns. 
 They scourage Him and every coward among them 
 smites Him at will. As time goes by, the mob that 
 has been hired for the purpose, grows more excited, 
 and howls louder. The accusers become court and 
 jury. The heathen Pilate is the only friend He has, 
 and he finally yields. At last, bruised and bleeding, 
 
136 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 week and falling under His cross, they lead the Naza- 
 rine away to Golgotha. 
 
 But so far He is the victor. He has neither said 
 or done anything inconsisent with His Messiaship. In 
 spite of all they have been able to do to Him, He 
 is the only calm and dignified one in that tumultuous 
 assembly. But how they would have rejoiced had 
 He given railing for railing, cursing for cursing, or 
 smiting for smiting. Then they would have wagged 
 their heads and laughed in glee. They would have 
 shouted, "I told you so! He is not the Christ He 
 is a sinner and we have proved it!" 
 
 But not yet no the crucial test has not yet 
 come. Wait, they think, until He is nailed to the 
 cross and gives up all hope. Then, they fondly be- 
 lieve, He will respond to suffering. Then He will 
 weaken and perhaps confess. And on they go, a 
 tempestuous sea of human passion, roaring in its baf- 
 fled rage, splashing wildly around the bleeding and 
 exhausted object of its fury. 
 
 At last they reached the fatal spot. They un- 
 bind and throw Him violently on the cross. Stretch- 
 ing out His arms upon the beam, they set a spike 
 in each one of His palms, and drive it tearing through 
 the quivering flesh, into the wood beneath. Again 
 they drive it little by little, prolonging with each jar 
 the exquisite torture. Now they bring His feet to- 
 gether, and a long spike is, with like repeated blows, 
 forced through them both. 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OP THE CHRIST 137 
 
 The rulers and leaders of the Jews follow all 
 this with a longing interest. They confidently expect 
 that these cruel thrusts will force from Him either a 
 confession or a curse. A death-like pallor overspreads 
 His face. It is the more marked in contrast with the 
 dark clots of blood that have formed on His temples 
 and His brow from the crown of thorns. As the 
 nailing goes slowly on, ages seem to pass. Spasms 
 of torture seize Him. But through it all He is strange- 
 ly silent. So much so that His tormentors are awed 
 into silence as well. 
 
 They think it wonderful that His stubborness 
 holds out so long. But the conflict is not over yet. 
 They raise the cross and thrust it roughtly into the 
 place prepared for it. As it strikes, it further tears 
 and lacerates the delicate nerves and tendons of His 
 hands and feet. On these He now hangs. They 
 had joyfully anticipated this critical moment, for they 
 were certain that here His fortitude would collapse. 
 They stand back with bated breath. A silence as 
 of the grave ensues. They are waiting for that to 
 come which they are sure must follow. 
 
 But strange to say, He still holds out! But He 
 cannot long. It is impossible that He can endure to 
 the end. He soon will sin. He will weaken or He 
 will curse. And then, O yes, when He does, they 
 shall be fully justified! Not only so, but they will 
 be commended for exposing a dangerous fraud. Time 
 passes by, and still no signs of breaking down come 
 
138 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE 
 
 from the Nazarine. At last they become impatient. 
 His forbearance is beyond all reason. Again they re- 
 new their former tactics of railing upon Him. 
 
 The following is the combined account as given 
 by the Evangelists: "And they that passed by re- 
 viled Him and railed on Him, wagging their heads 
 and saying, *Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple, and 
 buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be the 
 Son of God, come down from the cross.' And the 
 people stood beholding. And the rulers also with 
 them derided Him, saying, 'He saved others, let Him 
 save Himself, if He be the Christ, the chosen of God/ 
 Likewise also, the chief priests, mocking Him, with 
 the scribes and elders, said, 'Let Christ, the king of 
 Israel, descend from the cross, that we may see and 
 believe. He saved others, Himself He cannot save. 
 If He be the king of Israel, let Him come down from 
 the cross and we will believe Him. He trusted in 
 God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; 
 for He said I am the Son of God.' And the soldiers 
 also mocked Him, saying, 'If Thou be the king of the 
 Jews, save Thyself. The thieves also which were 
 crucified with Him reviled Him, and cast the same 
 in His teeth, saying, 'If Thou be Christ, save Thyself 
 and us.' ' 
 
 But afterward, one of them repented, and this 
 was the only voice raised in His behalf. A repentant 
 thief was the only one of that vast throng to stand 
 with Him in that aweful hour. And vastly more than 
 
A TOPICAL STUDY OF THE CHRIST 139 
 
 all hell could devise and man execute, there sounds 
 out from his riven soul, this fearful question: "My 
 God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?" 
 Who dare comment on this? We can only tremble 
 as we listen to that interrogation. At the time, the 
 mob was howling so loud that it was not understood 
 even by those nearest Him. They thought He called 
 for Elias. 
 
 But now they see that all their taunts are unavail- 
 ing. They have done their worst, and still He is with- 
 out sin. He was never so dignified, so glorious, so 
 terrible to them as now. They are awed into silence, 
 Listen! He is going to speak again! With what hor- 
 ror they must have listened to these words. "Father, 
 forgive them, they know not what they do." These 
 words are borne in upon them, for they form a prayer 
 that concerns them only. They now realize for the first 
 time their awful mistake. Had they not cried out to 
 Pilate, "His blood be upon us and our children?" 
 Like Pilate, they now fain would wash their hands, 
 but well they knew that not all the blood of bulls and 
 goats could cleans the stain. He died as spotless as 
 He had lived, and they had brought His blood upon 
 them and their children! They had made the stake 
 and lost. No wonder they fled from His presence, 
 beating their breasts and wailing, "This was a just 
 man." And, how fearfully for the succeeding nine- 
 teen hundred years has his blood testified against 
 them! 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 On page 31 for the heading "BORN OF US," 
 read BORN FOR US. 
 
 On page 52 for "NOT MY MIGHT NOR MY 
 POWER, BUT MY SPIRIT," read NOT BY MIGHT 
 NOR BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT. 
 
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