The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 645

!

;

THE APOSTOLIC LOVE

605

Jerusalem twenty years ago but the apostle declares that this somber prophecy of the completed hardening was fulfilled to its fullest ;

men who were then who were hardened by

extent only in the

the leaders of public opinion

in Jerusalem,

their contact, not with

John

the Baptist, but with Jesus.

The

effect of contact

with Jesus

is

so decisive that

the whole subsequent course of a man's

life

it

determines

and being

forever.

no one greater and more glorious than Jesus. Whom Jesus does not save can not be saved. He who sees no light in Jesus

There

is

must forever wander in darkness. He is the touchstone. Tested by Him, the soul stands revealed. From this narrative, and from all that the Scripture reveals on this subject, viz.

,

it is

therefore piteously evident that our greatest glory,

our Christian assurance and the most awful misery which the

soul can conceive, the hardening of a

human being, stand side by side, Rock of offense fall and

belong together in causal connection. rising again for

savor of ble that

life,

many

in Israel

;

but also savor of death

He who

is

;

a sign that shall be spoken against

—we wonder

how

it is

possi-

the Savior of the soul can also cause its deadly

corruption to become manifest

And yet it is a fact And what is still more

;

the

Word

of

God

leaves no

room

for doubt.

wonderful, this fearful operation of being a

savor of death proceeds from Christ in one of the most glorious

moment when He shines in all the The hour had come when, like a grain of mustard-seed, He should fall into the ground. The Galileans saw their Lord. The Greeks asked after Him. The voice from heaven was still vibrating in their ears. With touching entreaty He called them to repentance. And it is in that moment that the enmity of the human heart shows Him its deadly hatred, and in its moments

of His life

:

in the

greatness of His majesty.

base resistance compels Him to hide Himself. hardening of heart becomes manifest.

And

then their

no escape from this critical moment. Every man must And he that has come to Him must see more and more of His greatness and holiness, and become more intimately acquainted with Him. And by this very entrance into the inner sanctuary the lost soul discovers its own true inwardness, and whether it will ever come to a rending of the veil. But from this we should never draw the wrong inference, that it is then the safest course never to bring our children to Jesus. This

There

is

be drawn to Christ.

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