Quiet Talks on Following the ChristGordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Religion
Quiet Talks on Following the Christ
Gordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Christian life; Devotional literature
Two things stand out sharply in my memory of Ping Yang, in Korea. One is
the visit to the home of a Christian family, whose head was one of those
being held in prison in the famous conspiracy case. I still feel the
pathos of face and voice as the dear old mother, and the gentle wife,
asked so eagerly, "When will he be back?"
The other, was the faces of certain of the women in the church service
there. I found myself time and again turning to look at their faces as I
was speaking. There was a sweet light that transfigured their worn faces,
and gave them a real beauty. It was the more striking against the
background of the faces one sees in those Oriental lands.
The story has been told in various ways of the European artist sent to a
Salvation Army meeting to make a caricature. He was an infidel, with a
sinful life, an uneasy conscience, and a sore heart. But the faces he saw
there of those redeemed out of the depths of sin, convinced him that they
had what he needed, and what he afterwards got, at the same place as they,
the feet of Christ. One who has looked into the faces at some of the
Salvation Army meetings has no trouble believing the story.
Now this is part of our Master's great plan for reaching His world. He
comes in to us, if we let Him. He changes us as we yield to Him. The
beauty of this wondrous One within shines out of face and eyes, and
touches those whom we touch. His presence transfigures when He is allowed
to dominate. We are changed from within. Though like Moses and Stephen we
will not wist of the transfiguration, only of the Great One whose presence
within it is that makes the change. We know the peace and music within;
others know more of the change in face and life.
Resurrection Power--A Present Experience.
There is a second experience in this group. In sharpest contrast with
Jacob's tomb stands out _the Resurrection Morning_. Our Lord Jesus rose up
out of death. The strongest bars that death could make--and surely every
one of us has some sore experience of their strength in holding dear ones
from us--those strongest bars were snapped, as a woman breaks the cotton
thread in her sewing.
Our Lord Jesus rose up again into life, and into a new, a higher, a
different sort of life. The personal identity was unchanged. His disciples
recognized His voice and face and form, as they talked and ate with Him.
But the limitations were gone. The control of spirit over body was
complete.
And it is a bit of His gracious plan that we shall follow Him here, too.
When He returns in glory there will be a resurrection for those who have
followed Him. As He comes down on the clouds, the dead bodies of those who
have the warm vital touch with Him, that the word "believeth" stands for,
will be touched into a new life and be reunited with the spirits that had
lived in them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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