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hrlst, and yet has not had an oppor
tunity to confess him; but there is no
promise for those who purposely re
frain from an open confession.
It is necessary also to the glory of
Christ on earth, if men did not con
fess Christ how could he be glorified
or made known to the world' if
everybody refused to confess him ho
would have no glory among men; he
could never be widely known unless
God sent the angels to proclaim the
gospel. But as it is. every man who
confesses Christ glorifies him. If
you want to glorify a man simply con
fess him. if a raan ,8 a candIdate
for the Presidency of the United
States every one who advocates his
cause and votes for him adds to his
glory and assists in his election. Why
should any man who claims to believe
n Christ and love him object to giv
ing him the glory of his salvation*
would you refuse to acknowledge a
man who had saved your life? The
position of those who refuse to con
fess Christ openly is preposterous and
absurd.
It is necessary also for the propaga
tion of the gospel among men. Christ
relies upon confession as the means
of reaching men and saving them. He
does not. like the Mohammedans, rely
upon the simple power of the sword
to propagate the gospel; nor upon
commerce, though commerce may be
turned to account; nor upon educa
tion. though Christian education Is a
valuable adjunct to the gospel; nor
upon logic, and philosophy, and sci
ence, though all of these may be of
ue in religion. But Christ relies
upon his disciples confessing him as
Paul did, and as all of those who
really believe in and love him are will
ing; to do. That is what Peter did
on the day of Pentecost; that is what
Paul did after his conversion ? he per
sisted on all occasions, and in all com
panies, in confessing his faith in
tnrl8t
In regard to the manner of confes
sion, It, ot course, must spring out of
a sincere heart. There Is such a
thing as a mere lip confession, like
that of Judas Iscariot, Ananias and
Sapphira, and Simon Magus. Mere
formalism is not a righteous confes
sion of Christ. Nor is a confession
that Is prompted by spiritual pride
love of display, or which comes in
answer to compulsion or overpersua
?OD; *ke kind of confession which
Christ desires. "With the heart man
belleveth unto righteousness; and
tn the mouth confession is made
unto salvation."
This confession, therefore, must be
oral This is the death kneel to secret
discipleship, like that of Nicodemus
and Joseph of Arimathea. who were
compelled at last to come out before
the world and confess their faith in
Christ. The woman who touched the
garment of Jesus and was healed de
sired that no one should know it
but Jesus called her out. and she
trembling and afraid, fell down and
confessed him before all the people
Let the redeemed of the Lord say
?o. if God has done anything for
>ou, do not be afraid to tell It. "Out
of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh." And if you have
the ove of God in your heart, you
should not desire and you cannot hope
to forever hide it.
Of course this means that Christ
should be confessed in the church and
in the way appointed by the Church
authorities ? by participation in the
sacraments of the Church, if a man
refuses to be ba.ntlzod in the name of
Christ, and to partake of the supper
in memory of his dying love, the con
clusion necessarily is that he Is no
ran of Christ. He may succeed
In deceiving himself, but he cannot
deceive other people, and he cannot
deceive the Lord himself. This con
feaslon of Christ by joining the church
Is not all of It; that does not end the
matter. You must also confess Christ
in your life. "Actions speak louder
than words." You cannot confess
him truly in heart and by mouth un
less you also confess him in your daily
life. That means in your private lifo
it should be pure and holy; in your
home life, in the midst of your family,
at your own table; and in society.
That is in the business walks of life
and in all of your associations with
men and women. I knew a man once
who lived for many years in a com
munity and did a large business, and
when ho diod people began to inquire
if he was a member of the church.
They finally had to go to his wife, and
she said, "Yes, he had been a mem
ber of the church for twenty years."
What kind of confession of Christ
was that life? If you confess Christ
in your life, it means that you muBt
be govei^ed by his word and spirit.
You must endeavor to imitate his ex
ample, to obey his commandments,
and to make his influence upon the
world felt through you.
The confession of Christ is follow
ed by a promise: "Whosoever there
fore shall confess me before men, him
will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven." It is also fol
lowed by a warning: "But whosoever
shall deny me before men, him will I
also deny before my Father which is
in heaven."
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD.'
Feb. 4, 1917. John 3:1-21.
Golden Text: "For Qod so loved
the world, that he gave his only be
gotten Son, that whosoever belleveth
In him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." John 3:16.
There Is no other passage of the
same length in the Bible that con
tains as many of the great fundamen
tal truths of the Christian religion
as the verses for this lesson. In the
time allotted for their study In the
Sunday-school It will only be possible
?to bring out some of the main points
in connection with some of the more
important of these truths, which are
the new birth, the atonement, and
God's love.
1. The Ne-.v Birth. Nlcodemus was
a Pharisee, a rabbi and a member
of the Sanhedrin. He seems to have
been anxious to know the truth, pos
sibly cautious about accepting it, and
slow to confess. He came to Jesus at
night doubtless because he could then
have a quiet personal talk with him,
which would have been impossible
during the days that were filled with
teaching and miracle-working. We
have probably only an outline of the
wonderful conversation' between this
seeker after truth and the Great
Teacher.
Nlcoaemus seems to nave asked
some question about the kingdom, the
establishment of which he and all the
Jews were expecting. Jesus In his
answer tells him that the kingdom
of God is not an earthly but a spiritual
kingdom. Admission to the kingdom
will not be granted because one is
born a son of Abraham. There must
be another and a different birth ? the
birth of the Spirit. Nlcodemus does
not understand this and Jesus illus
trates it by the wind. We cannot see
the wind. We know very little of
what causes It; the ancients knew
much less. God sends It. We can
<^nly see its effects.
Jesus speaks of this new blrtb as
being "born of water and the 8p!rit."
This Is said to have been a familiar
Baying in connection with a Gentllo
becoming a Jew. Being born of the
Spirit was the change that had taken
place in the heart. Being born of
water was the baptism, which was the
outward profession of the inward
change.
Thus Jesus said to Nicodemus that
it was necessary that there should be
a change of heart wrought by the
Spirit, and an outward confession of
this change, if one would gain en
trance into the kingdom of God.
'John in his First Epistle has given
us some of the marks or evidences
of the now birth. He says that the
man born of God "believes that Jesus
is the Christ," "does not commit
sin," "doeth righteousness," "loves
the brethren," "overcomes the world,"
"keepeth himself from the wicked
one." Where these fruits are seen,
we may be sure that the new birth
has taken place. Thorns do not bear
grapes, nor do thistles bear figs.
Jesus, then tells him how he may
obtain this work of the Spirit. In
another place he says that the Spirit
may be secured by asking for Him.
But this asking must be prompted by
faith. So he tells Nicodemus that
faith is necessary.
2. The faith to be exercised was in
a crucified Saviour. This was entirely
contrary to the ideas of the Jews, and
probably to those of Nicodemus. Jesus
illustrates the truth he wishes to pre
sent by reminding this teacher of the
Scriptures of an incident in the his
tory of Israel with which he was, of
course, familiar. It was ol' the serpent
of brass erected in the midst of the
camp by Moses at God's command.
The Israelite who had been bitten by
the serpent, and who looked at this
brazen serpent, was healed. The real
ground of his healing was his faith in
God.
Jesus said to Nicodemus that he
was to be lifted up, referring to his
crucifixion on the cross, and that
those who believed in him would
have everlasting life, which was Just
another way of saying that they gain
entrance into the eternal kingdom of
God.
3. God's Ix>ve. In vers* 16 we
have the explanation given us why
God provided atonement for sinners.
There are a great many things about
the atonement that we cannot under
stand. There are some people who
will not accept it because they can
not understand it fully. One of the
things which this verse teaches us
about the atonement is that It will
not be limited to the Jews, but was
Intended for all those everywhere,
and in all time, who will put their
faith in Jesus. The Jews of old and
others before the coming of our Sa
viour were saved because they be
lieved in this atonement to be made.
All those who have been saved since
our Saviour lived on earth have been
saved because they believed In the
atonement that has been made. God
made the atonement for sinners by
giving His only begotten Son to take
the place of sinners and keep the law
for them, and then to suffer the pun
ishment due for their sins. He offers
this atonement to any who will re
ceive it. God made this atonement
only because of His great love. In
thinking of this subject, we are apt
to think of God's love as exercised
toward the world as a whole. We
should remember that God does not
look at the world as a mass, but* as
made up of Individuals. If a Chris
tian were asked If he loved the Chinese
he would probably say, "Yes," mean
ing that he was willing to do for
them everything that he could by his
efforts, his prayers and his gifts. But
he would probably think only of the
great mass of people who make up
that nation. On the other hand, God
considers them one by one M indi
vhiuals. We ought to think of God's
love as exercised toward us just as
really as If there were no other hu
man beings In the world. We ought
to make this verse so real and per
sonal to us that we can say so far as '
we are concerned individually, "God
so loved me that He gave His only
begotten Son, that if I believed in
him, I shall not perish, but have ever
lasting life."
At the la8t day Jesus is to be the
Judge of all the earth, but when he
came into the world he came not as
a judge to condemn the world because (
of its sin, but he came in love in order
that he might bring salvation to the
lost. He said, "I came to seek and
to save that which was lost." The
great blessing of salvation offered in
the atonement will be bestowed on
anyone who desires it, the only condi
tion being that of faith. In the minds I
of some people there seems to be a
haziness surrounding the word
"faith." We may easily substitute
another English word which has the
same meaning and yet may make the
subject a little clearer and say, "He
that trusts him is not condemned."
We know what it is to trust a friend 4
when he has made us an offer or a
promise; so" Jesus offers to us the
great gift of salvation and promises
us life everlasting, if we will only
trust him. .
There are some people who think 1
of salvation as a thing belonging to
heaven, and not to earth, and they
express the hope that they will be
saved when they die. But the salva
tion which Jesus offers to us he is
ready to give us atj once, that we
may enjoy it in this life and receive
its complete blessings in the life, to
come. In the same way there are
those who speak of the soul being
lost at death. Our Saviour here says
that the eouI that is not trusting in
him is condemned already, just as in ^
other places he speaks of the souls >
of those who are living as being lost. *
Those who do not believe on the Son I
of God are already under condemna- ?
ti?n, only awaiting the day of ex?cu- 1
tion, like a criminal who has been'^
tried and convicted and under the
sentence of death is awaiting the day
when he shall pay the penalty of the
violated law. The occasion of the 1
loss of the soul is not the sins that A
it has committed, no matter how manyl
or how grievous they may be, but it is^
unbelief, or lack of faith In Jesus as j
the Saviour of sinners. To the soul I
th.it trusts Jesus sins will be forgiven, j
For him who does not trust In Jesus J
there is no forgiveness, for there is ]
no ground upon which forgiveness can 4
be bestowed upon him.- Th? great sin J
of the world has always been that J
Jesus has not been accepted as the I
Saviour.
The 1 jve which God has shown tow
us who trust in Jesus ought to prompt y
us not only to love Him, but to make
us put forth every possible effort to
tell of this love to those who are now !
ignorant of it. A little effort on our
part will show us that there are many
in this Christian land who do not
really know of the love of God. Some
of these have heard the gospel preach- *
ed all their lives, and yet they do not
realize that God loves them enough
to forgive them their sins, when they
show themselves willing to accept the
salvation which Jesus has provided.
Let us try more and more to realize
the greatness of God's love and the
meaning of the salvation which has
been provided for us, and then be
earnest and faithful in sharing it with
others.
And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest I
upon him, the spirit of wisdom and L
understanding, the spirit of counsel, ?
and might, the spirit of knowledge |
a'nd the fear of Jehovah. ? Isa. 11:2. 1