MOMENTOUS question! Dear reader, your eternal welfare depends upon the answer. Nearly nineteen centuries ago the world was tested by His presence. God presented His Son, and said, as it were, “What think ye of Christ?” The world’s awful reply was “the cross.” Men spat upon, buffeted, scourged, and crucified Him. This was the world’s estimate of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
“Away with him, away with him!” “Crucify him, crucify him!” “Not this man, but Barabbas!” were the fierce clamors of the blood-thirsty Jewish rabble, hounded on by their religious leaders, against the patient, spotless One, when Pilate said to them, “Behold your king.”
Laid in a manger at His birth, because there was no room for Him in the inn (Luke 2:77And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)), the Son of Man had not where to lay His head in this evil world (Luke 9:5858And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58)), and left it on a cross between two thieves. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Alas, poor world!
But what a contrast to the thoughts of God! Man puts a reed in His hand, plants a crown of thorns upon His blessed brow, bows before Him as a mock king, and nails Him to the cross. God raises Him from the dead, and exalts Him to His own right hand, crowns Him with glory and honor, and calls upon angels and men to bow to the name of Jesus, who shall sway the scepter of the universe!
Dear reader, have you bowed? What think ye of Christ? Have you believed on Him? Is He your Saviour? Do you know Him?
“What think ye of Christ?’ is the test,
To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot think right of the rest,
Unless you think rightly of Him.”
Is He to you the chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely, the fairer than the children of men? Or, do you still form part of that poor condemned world that crucified the Lord of glory. Thank God, it is not yet too late to change sides. Tomorrow it may be. If you are on the world’s side against Him today, by believing on God who raised Him from the dead, you may now be justified, and henceforth be found on the Lord’s side, and against the world. Which is it to be? “What think ye of Christ?”
Saul of Tarsus, a most moral and religious man, full of the zeal of God, but blinded by the god of this world, sought to blot out the name of Jesus of Nazareth from the earth, and was exceedingly mad against all who called upon Him. But the devil’s bold champion was changed from a lion into a lamb, the moment a ray of light from the excellent glory pierced his dark heart. Confessing Him Lord, he was henceforth the world-wide herald of his beloved Master, straightway preaching that He was the Son of God, and testing all who heard him with, “What think ye of Christ?”
Such a testimony as this, raised up by the Holy Ghost in the midst of a perishing world, roused the enmity of the wicked one. Satan stirred up his forces, and sought to silence forever the lips of the apostle. Attack upon attack followed more or less wherever he turned.
Arraigned at the bar of the deputy of Achaia, Gallio, a poor reasoning worldling, Paul was about to use the opportunity to test him, and all who heard, as to their thoughts of Christ. But Gallio breaks in upon him before he could speak. Christ or Judaism were all one and the same to him. In his eyes, it was but a question of words, names, and Jewish law; matters in which he would be no judge. Jews, Greeks, and Christians might contend as they pleased. But Gallio cared for none of these things. Alas, poor Gallio where has his utter carelessness landed him now? (Acts 18:12-1712And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. 16And he drave them from the judgment seat. 17Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. (Acts 18:12‑17).)
And where will your carelessness land you, dear reader? Maybe you are one of those easy-going folk who boast that you don’t make any fuss about your religion, who give each seventh day to the outward observance of the form of godliness, and live for yourself and the world all the week. You assent to the doctrines of current Christianity, but are utterly careless as to the awful fact that you are a lost sinner on the road to the lake of fire, and cannot possibly escape it, and enter glory, without being born again. Christendom contains its tens of thousands of such souls. Awake, awake, ye careless sinners, ere it be too late; you are slumbering and sleeping on the brink of endless woe! Another hour, for aught you know, and you may be found reaping the fruit of your careless folly in an everlasting hell.
Paul, released, and undaunted, renews his attacks upon the citadels of Satan, and challenges all hearts day by day with, “What think ye of Christ?” Fresh trials await him, and ere long he is again before the judgment-seat of the rulers of the world. Felix, the Roman governor of Judaea, is now his judge. This man’s wife was a Jewess, and he was not altogether unacquainted with what Paul testified to.
He appoints a day to hear the prisoner concerning the faith in Christ; and the faithful servant of God, measuring the moral character of his judge, boldly reasons of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. The poor timeserver, with a guilty conscience (for such he was), trembles as he hears the solemn words of the apostle. “What think ye of Christ?” tests him to the very depths of his soul; but avarice had so long sat enthroned in that poor deluded heart, that there was no room for Christ. “Go thy way for this time,” says he; “when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” He hoped also, the narrative continues that money should have been given him by Paul. Many a season occurred after this to hear the same testimony at the prisoner’s lips, but the poor covetous procrastinator never found one convenient to accept Christ. And the solemn history closes by saying that Felix, when removed from his post after two whole years, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound—his last act sin (Acts 24:22-2722And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. 23And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. 24And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. 26He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. 27But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room: and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. (Acts 24:22‑27)).
Ah! dear reader, there are many like him today. How is it with you? You probably are not unacquainted with the doctrine of Christ. But what think ye of Him? Are you still procrastinating, still putting off this momentous matter of your soul’s salvation. Are you a poor timeserver and man pleaser like Felix, your heart set upon gold, and no room for Christ? Oh! wake up, wake up to your folly, ere it be too late. Think of God’s wondrous love in the gift of His Son, and ere the day of His abounding grace shall have passed forever, may He give you to think rightly of Him. Without Him, you are lost; die without Him, and you are eternally lost. Accept Him, you are saved, eternally saved. “What think ye of Christ?”
Festus comes into the province in the room of Felix; and in due course Paul is arraigned at the bar of the new-comer. Agrippa the Jewish king, and Bernice, are seated beside the governor. Satan’s power, and man’s spite and hatred in imprisoning the apostle, are overruled in the wondrous ways of God, to give opportunity after opportunity for him to challenge the hearts of the mighty and noble of this world with his great theme. Leave being granted him to speak, he tells of his own career of enmity against Christ, his conversion to God, and the testimony committed to him to bear to the Gentiles. This is too much for Festus. The poor blind idolater neither knew, nor cared to know the Christ of God. A deluded freethinker, in nature’s darkness, and a man pleaser like his predecessor, he breaks in upon the apostle, and with a loud voice exclaims, “Paul, thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make thee mad.” But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.” Mad! Nay, he had come into his right mind. He had been mad, as he himself had said, exceedingly mad against the Christians (Acts 26:1111And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. (Acts 26:11)). But now he was in his sober senses. If any one was mad, it was Festus, not Paul. What greater madness than to account the doctrine of Christ as folly! What greater madness when challenged with, “What think ye of Christ?” then, to treat the question as a thing of naught, and to seek to silence the questioner (Acts 26).
Dear reader, again we appeal to you, how are you treating this question? Is it possible, in this land of Bibles, that any reader of these lines can be foolish and mad enough to despise it? We press it upon your conscience, “What think ye of Christ?” Will you bow to Him? Will you accept Him? Will you have Him as your Saviour? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:2626And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. (John 3:26)). “Whosoever” must mean you, and therefore you have but to believe on Him, and you shall never, never perish, but everlasting life is yours.
But turning from Festus, Paul, who doubtless had closely watched the effect of his burning words upon his hearers, discerning the uneasiness of Agrippa, continued, “For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest” (Acts 26:26, 2726For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. (Acts 26:26‑27)).
Thus publicly challenged by this pestilent fellow (for such he was in the world’s eyes), he replied to Paul, “Almost [or, in a little] thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Paul knew his man, and had touched the right chord. He had given a home thrust, which the king felt far more keenly than he liked to confess. His satirical answer covered an uneasy conscience. In his heart of hearts, we think there is but little doubt he would like to have been a Christian. But see what it involved. Think of the effect of the news of the conversion of king Agrippa! One can imagine the thoughts of his heart at such a moment. What would Bernice say? And that infidel idolater Festus, how could he bear his taunts? And the nation too—Jews! —why, he might lose his throne. Well, and what of all that? it would only be a few years of trial at most, and look what he would gain in the future, eternal glory with Christ! Shall he decide; shall he bow to Christ, whom Paul preached? He seemed happy enough, with all his trials. Ah! but how about Caesar? suggests Satan, fearful of losing his victim. Ah! yes, how about Caesar, the Roman Emperor? What would he say when the news reached Rome? It is too much; the cost is too great. Paul has put the case well, but―but―and “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian,” is Agrippa’s reply. Ah! the devil had the mastery. Almost persuaded; almost. Almost persuaded, but lost.
Paul replied, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (26:29). And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up. Mark it well, dear, reader, the king first. The king leads the way; he cannot bear it. He has heard enough; it is too much for him. The king rose up, and the governor Festus, and Bernice, and they that sat with him. How deeply solemn! The whole company were tested at the lips of a despised manacled prisoner, with What think ye of Christ? And the whole unbelieving host refused Him, the king deliberately closing his eyes. How true is the word of the Living God! “Not many mighty, not many noble are called,” &c. (1 Cor. 1:2626For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (1 Corinthians 1:26)).
And, dear reader, how many are to be met with on all hands to-day, who like King Agrippa are almost persuaded, but lost. Many would like to have Christ, if it were not for the cost; what it involves. Christ and the world is a gospel that would suit millions; the world now, and heaven hereafter. But, sinner, this you cannot have. You can have the world and hell, if you please; or you can have Christ and heaven; but you cannot have Christ, and the world, and heaven. But oh! if you once receive Christ, and know His worth, the world, so hard to give up in the flesh, will drop off like autumn leaves. The devil whispers that you must give up the world to get Christ. But nay, it is his lie; you must receive Christ, before you can give up the world. And once your heart has received, and is satisfied with Christ, you will soon discover what a worthless bauble the world is; vanity, vanity, utter vanity!
By the wondrous love of God, in His unspeakable gift, by His abounding grace which reigns through righteousness, we beseech you to receive the Saviour now. If you remain like careless Gallio, procrastinating Felix, infidel Festus, or almost persuaded Agrippa, and death overtake you, you are lost forever. Is it the consequences that you fear? Remember the solemn word of Revelation 21:88But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8), which puts the fearful (or cowardly) first on the awful list of those who spend eternity in the lake of fire. Then once again, ere we close, we beg and entreat you, ere it be too late, Come now to Jesus the only Saviour. “What think ye of Christ?”
E. H. C.