BY common consent we judge more harshly of an imposture if its claims are pretentious and far-reaching. The breakdown of a small local bank which has had its few depositors is, reprehensible, and will affect its own small circle. But if we could imagine a tremendous smash of the Bank of England, what consternation would fill the minds of those in every zone whose fortunes are bound up in its credit.
If Christianity could simply take rank as one of a score of religions that have obtained footing in the world, men would tolerate it. But in this it partakes of the character assigned to Ishmael: “His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” Wherever it goes in its true character, goodbye to peace and ease; for there will its Founder’s words be certainly verified, “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.” (Luke 12:5151Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: (Luke 12:51)).
IT CLAIMS TO BE THE TRUTH.
Systems of belief have been devised by men, and in order to carry popular favor, or to win applause, have taken up, either wholly or in part, some popular notions of the day. Not so Christianity.
It discovers a philosopher, and instead of approving his wise maxims and his deep researches, tells him he must be saved by a Man that was crucified as a malefactor. Does it encounter a man whose mind has imbibed some other religion? It tells him his gods are demons, and his worship idolatry. Even if the man be a Jew whose religion was, as it admits, of divine origin, it has no mercy on him. It affirms that in spite of that religion he murdered the very One who gave it, and hence it is of no avail for him.
Does a man plead that his business or his family have a prior claim? It excludes that man from all its blessings, heaps its anathemas upon his head, and assigns him eternal punishment as his inevitable fate.
Youth yearns for the pleasures of the world, but in the face of such yearnings Christianity raises its mighty voice and cries, “The friendship of the world is enmity with God.” Old age longs for a haven of rest after the storms of life. Christianity exposes the empty vanity of all such aspirations while its truths are still rejected. “If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” “After this the judgment.”
It scouts the idea of the materialist when it assures its adherents, “The things which are seen are temporal.” It baffles the universalist and the annihilationist when it adds, “The things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4) The evolutionist is remorselessly overthrown when it describes its commandment as “the word which ye have heard from the beginning.” (1 John 2). It refuses all development in that sense of the word, describing those who receive its author as “complete in Him” (Col. 2). And farther than this, it deals no less severely with its own supporters, if they be but mere professors, sounding in their ears that word, “Ye must be born again” (John 3). Thus it claims to be the truth, and consequently
IT DEMANDS THE FAITH OF ALL,
Jews, Mohammedans, Buddhists, and Pagans; men of some belief, and men of none. It is made known among all nations for the obedience of faith. He who believes it is blessed now and forever; he who refuses to believe it is under God’s judgment forever.
IT REQUIRES THE SUBMISSION OF ALL.
It lowers not its claim when it speaks to an emperor, a king, or a czar. It cringes not before nobility and gentry; be he who hears it marquis or earl, baron or knight, general or statesman, he must submit or perish. Its Founder is Xing of kings and Lord of lords, and woe to the opponent of His authority.
IT ANNOUNCES BLESSING FOR ALL,
blessing that every one needs, and that none can afford to do without. The wealthiest merchant or landowner is a beggar without it, the poorest scavenger who has it is rich. It is the safest investment for all, and yet its profits are to be had without money and without price. Its greatest things are free, so that the poor man may be enriched in a moment, and not with those riches which take to themselves wings and fly away. Yet were a man never so wealthy, he could not buy a fragment of its treasure, though he gave every farthing he possessed.
CHRISTIANITY IS EITHER THE TRUTH OR IT IS NOT.
It must command the submission of the man who recognizes it as of God, or the uncompromising hatred of the one who does not. The existence of such a pretentious system, if it be an imposture, is a standing witness to the degraded condition of men. On the other hand, if it be not an imposture, no madness is so mad as that which pooh-poohs its present pressing claims, or puts them off; and no inconsistency is so great as that which pretends to submit to it, and yet affects a compromise with the world.
ITS CENTRAL DOCTRINE
is that Jesus is the Son of God—eternally and essentially so—and (whatever name or position he may assume) he is anti-Christian who denies it. (1 John 2:2222Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22)).
It admits, and indeed exposes as nothing else does, the depravity of man’s nature. It shines upon his course, tells him the sins of his life, the corrupt motives of his heart, the absolute perversion of his will, and the eternal and awful consequences if he continues unbelieving. It asserts the claims and rights, the holiness and truth of God, and whilst exalting His every attribute, and showing clearly that He cannot act inconsistently with Himself, it announces a plan of redemption for lost and guilty men. It tells, moreover, that this plan proceedeth not from the offender, man; but from the offended, God. It scatters broadcast the
REMARKABLE AND WONDERFUL NEWS,
that whilst hating sin God loved the sinner, and in order to save him He gave forth His own Son in never-to-be-forgotten love. The Son came voluntarily in accord with the Father’s will, became a Man (whilst ever retaining essential Deity), showed in His immaculate life, both by His words and works, how God was disposed towards men, and then surrendered Himself to be nailed to a tree. He there took up the sinning man’s responsibility (Himself sinless), suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust; was forsaken by God, and endured His wrath; thus exhibiting in His own person God’s unflinching truth, inflexible justice, unlimited love, and holy intolerance of sin. Being God, He knew all God’s claims and character; being man, He made Himself acquainted with the whole extent of our needs. All that God is for man, and all that man could be for God, came out there. Jesus died. Pursued even in death by man’s hatred, a spear was thrust into His side, from whence issued blood and water. That shed blood speaks of satisfaction rendered to every claim of God, atonement effected, sin put away from His sight. A righteous ground is afforded on which God can act freely and consistently in love to us.
Then Jesus, who died and was buried, rose again from amongst the dead, and went to heaven as
A MAN OUT OF DEATH,
to be there greeted with glory and honor. He is made both Lord and Christ. From Him has come down the Holy Ghost, the third personality in the triune Godhead, who is now working amongst men, to beget confidence in that ascended Lord. He who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, relies implicitly upon Him for salvation from judgment, and by His blood is brought to God. He belongs to Christ, and not to the world that crucified Him (John 17), is sealed and taken possession of by the Holy Ghost (Eph. 1), and expects that ascended Saviour to return shortly for him. (1 Thess. 1). Moreover, by the same Spirit he is united with every other believer to Christ in heaven, and
DESTINED TO SHARE WITH CHRIST FOR EVER
that heavenly redemption-glory into which He has entered.
Reader, are you a decided Christian? There ought not to be any compromise in this matter. Thousands of living witnesses to these truths are to be found, and though unknown to you, the writer gladly attests their reality. Reproaches, trials, persecutions there are for the Christian, but the compensating grace that Christianity affords, enables us to glory in tribulations also.
“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Rom. 10).
W. H. W.