Christ: His Rejection

Christ: His Rejection The Humble Christ
It is related how the need of the West Indian slaves was presented to the Moravians. The Moravians were told that it was impossible to reach the slave population because they were so separated from the ruling classes. Undaunted, two Moravian missionaries offered themselves as candidates. They said, "We will go and be slaves on the plantations and work and toil if need be under the lash, to get right beside the poor slaves and instruct them." They left their homes, went to the West Indies, went to work on the plantations as slaves and by the side of slaves, to get close to the hearts of slaves. The slaves heard them, and their hearts were touched, because the missionaries had humbled themselves to their condition. That was grand; it was glorious. Yet Christ's example was more glorious, for He stepped down from heaven to earth to get close to our side. He Himself came beside us that we might feel the throbbings of His bosom, be encircled in the embrace of His loving arms, be drawn to Him, and hear Him whisper in our ears, "God is full of grace and truth."

Light Dispels Darkness
No one switches on a flashlight in an area flooded by direct sunlight. We put on the light in order to dispel darkness. It is the darkness that makes the light necessary. God from eternity knew that men would choose darkness rather than light, and therefore He had to bring His light in Jesus Christ to shine in the midst of darkness. No Mistake in Judgment
A young man who graduated from West Point said that so much tension and anxiety built up with regard to final examinations that the best scholar in his class fainted at the first question asked him. He felt that his standing in his chosen profession was at stake, that his future position depended on the manner in which he acquitted himself. If the loss or gain of a little worldly distinction could so move a man, what will be the feeling of the soul when it stands alone at the bar of God? West Point honors are but for the little moment of time here, but the results of this final examination are for eternity. There are often mistakes made in worldly judgment, but there will be no mistakes made at the judgment seat of Christ. Not Welcome
A young nobleman had been absent for such a long time from his extensive estate and numerous tenants that he was a stranger to them. Having returned home, he was out hunting and wandered from his party. Lost and thoroughly drenched by the rain, he sought shelter and relief in the cottages of some of his tenants, but they did not recognize him as the lord of the manor and shut their doors in his face. Knocking at the cottage of a poor widow, he heard the invitation, "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord." She gave him a suit of dry, though coarse, clothing and spread before him the best food she could provide. He went away promising to return for his own clothes. The next day he appeared with his retinue and stopped before the poor widow's door. She discovered in the young lord her unknown guest. He thanked her for her kindness shown to a stranger. She gave as a reason for her hospitality the fact that her own boy was away at sea and might be in need of shelter. When Christ came, He was surrounded by the world He had made. Yet Christ had nowhere to lay His head, for "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." The Right Doctor
A young foreign nobleman came across the English Channel to consult the great English physician, Dr. Forbes Winslow. "Doctor," he said, "I do not know what is the matter with me. I cannot sleep-I am troubled night and day on account of my sins." "Oh," said the doctor, "you are seeking the help of the wrong physician," and instead of his Materia Medica, he took down his Bible and read from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." He knelt in prayer with the nobleman, who went back to his home rejoicing in salvation. The Savior's Grief
Evangelist Gypsy Smith said that once, when a group of gypsies were forced to cross a swollen stream, a great number of men were drowned. One young man made a desperate attempt to save his mother who kept clinging to him. Several times he pushed her away, saying, "Let go, Mother, and I can save you." But she would not heed him and was lost. At the funeral, the son stood by his mother's grave and said over and over, "How hard I tried to save you, Mother, but you wouldn't let me!" These are the tragic words that we shall hear Jesus Christ say to many in eternity one day, "How hard I tried to save you, but you wouldn't let me. Your will was the great hindrance."