09. CHAPTER IV - A NEW VISION OF THE MASTER

CHAPTER IV A NEW VISION OF THE MASTER And Jesus saith ?veo him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man bath not where to lay his head.

—Matthew viii.

How marred must have been the face of the Holy One of God from His crown of thorns ! How lacerated the form of His sacred body from the scourging of the soldiers .. Look at yonder pillar, black with the blood of murderers and rebels. . . Look at the rude and bar­barous beings who busily surround their victim. See these ’ tear off His clothcs, bind those hands . . . press His gracious visage firmly against the shameful pillar,’ binding Him with ropes in such a manner that he cannot move or stir.’ See t The scourging lasts a full quarter of an hour! The scourges cut ever deeper into the wounds already made, aced Penetrate almost to the marrow until His whole back appears an enor­mous wound.’ A purple robe is then thrown over the form of the agonised Sufferer, and the twigs of a long-spiked thorn bush are twisted into a circle, and pressed upon His brow.

—From Thu Cross OR CALVARY .

HE showed first of all what a condescension it was for (f) Christ to become a man. I saw something quite new in Christ emptying Himself,’ leaving His glory and entering our world, our sinful world ; what it must have cost Him to live in the atmosphere of sin ; it was no wonder that He often escaped from the haunts of men, from the depressing, suffocat­ing odour of sin to the mountains, to have a breath of the fresh air of Heaven. How Hyde described the environments of sin and the Holy Person living in the midst of it. I felt that even the Incarnation was an Infinite Sacrifice, even if the Death on Calvary had never taken place.

Then he stopped, and said and He took this place—became man—for me.’ I saw the vicarious sufferings of Christ then, in a new light. After a little time he began again and said (a) Christ became a. slave for me. He washed His disciples’ feet—this was the work of a slave. He stooped and became a slave for me. Then he described the life of a slave, and how Christ in every sense of the word had voluntarily become a slave—not like one—but actually He became a bond-servant, a slave, He who was King of Kings, who had the worship and adoration of the hosts of Heaven, a real slave on earth. And all,’ said Hyde, for me, for me.’ For some time he wept, we both wept, I wept at the thought of the sufferings of Christ for me, and how unfaithful I had been to Him ; but Hyde was thinking of what he was going to say next, and what he said gave me such a shock that I hardly know how to repeat the words lest they should be misunderstood. Hyde continued speaking and weeping, I saw more, I saw that my Jesus, became a dog, a Pariah dog, for me.’ Is it blasphemy to use these words ? (3) Jesus became a dog for mc. Hyde said that he was thinking of the Syrophenecian woman, and how Jesus applied the contemptible word—’ dog’—to her and the Gentiles, and then he said, the Holy Spirit led my thoughts to the truth that Jesus had died for the Gentiles, for these dogs—then it must be that Jesus had taken the dog’s place. At first,’ he said, ’ this was too awful to think of, but when I thought of His life, I had to come to the conclusion that the life of Christ had more of the characteristics of a dog’s life, than anything else, and that is what I have been doing,’ he said, worshipping Him and praising Him for this.’ He explained that it must have been the intention of Christ to teach this truth by this miracle ; Christ would never have used the epithet ’ dog ’ of a human being without a great purpose in view, and it was this, He wanted men to realize that He had gone down, even below men for the purpose of lifting them up.

Then Hyde showed the similarity between Christ’s life and the pariah dog of the East.

The dogs of the East have constant kicks and blows from men, and that is how men treated our beloved Saviour, driven away from men, receiving oftentimes great unkindness at the hands of men, cruel words, scoffs, blows, and at last cruelly killed. Shall I ever forget the tenderness of Hyde as he spoke of the sufferings of Christ.

I remember nothing of dinner that night, my impression is that we both sat on that bed for hours speaking of Christ. I shall never forget it and never forget the vision I had of the love of Christ going lower and lower, suffering more and more and all for me.

If we could only spend time alone with Christ, what visions we would get, how we also could speak of Him to others until they had visions of Him. The distractions of our worldly affairs, the attractions of the world would cease to influence us as they do now, we need our quiet times with Him and to take time, and make time to be with Him, to see Him face to face.

Call upon Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which lion knowest not.

—Jeremiah xxxiii. 3.

Peter therefore was kept in prison s but Prayer was made without ceasing of the church uno God for him.

• Acts xii. 5.

I say unto you, Though lie will not rise and give hint, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as lie needeth.

• Luke xi. 8.

To summarise Mr. Muller’s service we must understand his great secret. Sock a life and such a work are the resell of one hull more than all else,—daily and frequent communion with God. He first satisfied himself that he was in the way of duty ; then he fixed Isis mind upon the unchanging word of prOMISe ; then, in the boldness of a suppliant who comes to the throne of grace in the name of Jesus Christ and pleads the assurance of the immutable Promiser, he Presented every petition. He was an unwearied intercessor. No delay discouraged hint. This is seen particularly in the case of individuals for whose COnVerSion he prayed. The year fast before his death he told the writer of two parties, for whose reconciliation to God he had prayed, :lay by day, for over sixty years, and who had soot as yet to his knowledge turned oats God and he significantly added, ’ I have not a doubt that I shall meet them both in heaven,- for my Heavenly Father would not lay Om my heart a burden of prayer for them for over threescore years, it He had not concerning them purposes of mercy.’

—From GEORGE MULLER of Bristol.