Gospel's TrumpetFor we do not preach ourselves,
but Jesus Christ as Lord. (2 Cor. 4:5)
Gospel's Trumpet
For we do not preach ourselves,
but Jesus Christ as Lord. (2 Cor. 4:5)
A
Description of Jesus
Christ the Door
How He Shared Our
Infirmities
What Jesus Is to
These
"What
Manner of Man?"
The Name That
Comforts
What Christ is to the World
The Face of My Master
Hopelessly Handicapped?
Without Beginning or
End
She Saw Only
Mozart's Physique
A Rabbi Silenced
Our Need of a Mediator
Can We
Believe in the Virgin Birth?
During the public ministry of Jesus Christ upon the earth, the following description of His person was sent by Publius Lentulus, President of Judaea, to the Senate of Rome. It is from an ancient manuscript:
"There lives a man of singular character, whose name is Jesus Christ, in Judaea. The barbarians esteem Him as a prophet, but His own followers adore Him as the immediate offspring of the immortal God. He is endowed with such unparalleled virtue as to call the dead from their graves, and to heal every kind of disease with a word or touch. This Person is tall and elegantly shaped.
His aspect is amiable and reverent. His hair flows into those beautiful shades which no united color can match, falling into graceful curves below His ears, agreeably couching upon His shoulders, and parting on His head like the head of a Nazarite. His forehead is smooth and large; His cheeks without either spat, save that of a lovely red; His nose is smooth and formed with exquisite symmetry; His beard is thick and of a color suitable to the hair of His head, reaching a little below the chin, and parted in the middle like a fork. He rebukes with majesty, commands with mildness, and invites with the most tender and persuasive language; His whole address, in deed or word being elegantly graceful and characteristic of so exalted a being. No man has ever seen Him laugh, but many have seen Him weep, and so persuasive are His tears that the multitude cannot withhold theirs from joining in sympathy with His. He is very temperate, modest and wise, and in short, whatever this phenomenon may turn out in the end, He seems at present from His excellent bearing and Divine perfection, is every way surpassing every children of men."
—The Sword and the Trowel
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For a good many years we have wondered why Christ mixed His figures in His parable of the Good Shepherd. At one place He calls Himself the Shepherd and at another the Door. A recent book explains it beautifully. It says:
"A traveler in Palestine once had a conversation with a shepherd at work near a sheepfold, who showed him the various features of the fold. Thereupon the traveler remarked, 'You say, here is the sheepfold, there are the sheep, and this is the doorway; but where is the door?’ 'The door?' asked the shepherd. 'I am the door. I lie across the entrance at night. No sheep can pass out, no wolf can come in, except over my body.’"
Beautiful, is it not? Christ did not mix His figures after all. He is both the Shepherd and the Door.
—Council Fires
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He who is the Bread of Life began His ministry hungering. He who is the Water of Life ended His ministry thirsting. Christ hungered as man, and fed the hungered as man, and fed the hungry as God. He was weary, and yet He is our rest. He paid tribute, and yet He is the King. He was called a devil, and cast out devils…. He prayed, and yet He hears prayer. He wept, and He dries our tears. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, and redeems the world. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and is the Good Shepherd. He died and gave His life, and by dying destroys death.
—The Christian
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To the artist He is the One Altogether Lovely.
To the architect He is the Chief Corner Stone.
To the baker He is the Living Bread.
To the banker He is the Hidden Treasure.
To the biologist He is the Life.
To the builder He is the Sure Foundation.
To the doctor He is the Great Physician.
To the educator He is the Great Teacher.
To the farmer He is the Lord of the Harvest.
To the florist He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.
To the geologist He is the Rock of Ages.
To the jurist He is the Righteous Judge, the Judge of All Men.
To the jeweler He is the Pearl of Great Price.
To the lawyer He is the Counselor, the Lawgiver, the Advocate.
To the horticulturist He is the True Vine.
To the journalist He is the Good Tidings of Great Joy.
To the oculist He is the Light of the World.
To the philanthropist He is the Unspeakable Gift.
To the philosopher He is the Wisdom of God.
To the preacher He is the Word of God.
To the sculptor He is the Living Stone.
To the servant He is the Good Master.
To the statesman He is the Desire of All Nations.
To the student He is the Incarnate Truth.
To the theologian He is the Author and Finisher of Our Faith.
To the traveler He is the New and Living Way.
To the toiler He is the Giver of Rest.
To the sinner He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
To the Christian He is the Son of the Living God, the Saviour, the Redeemer and Lord.
—Selected
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When the first missionaries went to Japan, a young Japanese who wanted to learn English was given the Gospel of John to translate into his native tongue. In a short time he became very restless and agitated. At last he burst out with the question, "Who is this Man about whom I have been reading--this Jesus? You call him a man, but He must be God."
—Arnold's Commentary
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About forty years ago a Mrs. L— was visiting a place in New Zealand called Kuripapanga. One day a cart drove up to the door of the accomodation house, being driven by a Maori woman who was taking an invalid son to the hospital some forty miles away. She had not gone far before she turned around and drove quickly back to the house. The people found that her son had died; the woman was so overcome with grief that they could not prevail upon her to leave the body. Mrs. L— came in from a walk soon after and was told about the woman. She stepped up into the cart and almost at once, the woman came down. They both went into the house and sat talking quietly for some time. The woman then got up and getting up into her cart, took up the reins and drove off with her eyes dried, and her face calm and restful. When asked how it was that she had been able to get the woman to come away from her son, Mrs. L— said that she had asked her, "Do you know Jesus?" The woman looked into her face, smiled, and at once came away. It was the power of the Name comforting the woman's soul. And she came away to talk about that Name and its sweetness--"In the name of Jesus."
—Sunday School Times
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—Selected
Leonardo da Vinci brought a friend along to critique his portrait of the "Last Supper". His friend remarked, "The most striking thing in the picture is the cup!" Upon hearing this, Leonardo da Vinci picked up his paint brush and blotted out the cup saying, "Nothing in my painting shall attract more attention than the face of my Master!"
—Selected
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Some years ago the late Mr. Gokhals, in conversation with Dr. Hume, after speaking of Christ with the deepest reverence, remarked, "But the Lord Jesus Christ is hopelessly handicapped by His connection with the West." To which Dr. Hume replied, "For nineteen centuries the Lord Jesus Christ has been handicapped by His connection with His followers; But hopelessly? Never!"
—Sunday School Times
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One day a six-year-old lad came to his mother with this question, "Mother, who made God?" Instantly the mother's face turned to astonishment and chagrin. She said curtly, "What an awful question to ask! You had better run along and play."
In that same country community, another lad approached his mother, and asked, "Did God make Himself?" His mother immediately left her work and breathed a silent prayer. Taking off her wedding ring, she gave it to her son and asked, "Where does this ring begin and where does it end?" Before long the boy answered, "There is no starting place and stopping place to a ring." The mother remarked, "Just so is God. There is no beginning and no end to God. He always, has been, and always will be."
—Gospel Herald
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She Saw Only Mozart's Physique
The young lady to whom Mozart was first engaged to be married became discontented with her choice when she saw more of the world, and gave up the composer. She thought him too small in stature. When the world had begun to recognize his greatness, she explained her refusal of him by saying: "I knew nothing of the greatness of his genius. I saw only a little man." Isaiah speaks of the rejection of Jesus by the world in much the same way. These are his words: "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men." But oh!--how disappointed will those same men be when they shall see Him in His beauty!
—The Expositor
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A Jewish soldier had been attending services where he heard much of the character and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. He went to his Rabbi and said, "Rabbi, the Christians say that the Christ has already come, while we claim He is yet to come." "Yes," assented the Rabbi. "Well," asked the young soldier, "when our Christ comes, what will He have on Jesus Christ?" What could the Rabbi say?
—Selected
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I remember vividly an experience with Mr. Moody that brought rich blessing to me and many others, when I was but a lad--11 years old. Moody was visiting my father. He had left his satchel and umbrella at the home of the elder Mr. McCormick, and he asked me if I would walk over and get them for him. I was more than glad to go. On the way home, while carrying the satchel on the end of the umbrella (and I had the umbrella poised over my shoulder), I stumbled and broke the umbrella! I was greatly disturbed by the accident, and felt so guilty that I knew not what to do. I was afraid. Finally I thought, "I will tell mother; she can tell father, and father can tell Mr. Moody." Crushed with the burden, I hurried home and told mother. She, of course, was sympathetic, and told father; and father broke the news to Mr. Moody. "So you broke my umbrella," said Mr. Moody (rather sternly, I thought); "Come here a minute." Fearfully I went to him. He said, "When you broke my umbrella, you became frightened and ashamed, didn't you? Then you thought, 'If I tell mother or father, they can go between me and Mr. Moody and straighten things up.' Now that your father has straightened things up, you can come to me. Now, my lad, that is the way it is with all of us; we are sinners—afraid of God. But God has provided a Mediator—someone to go between us and Him—and it is Jesus. You must come to God through Jesus. He died for us, and is the Way to God. I am glad this happened; I am going to tell my audiences about this, and turn them to Christ, our Mediator!" And he did.
—Gospel Herald
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Can We Believe in the Virgin Birth?
A Christian Jew and a non-Christian Jew were conversing about the Virgin Birth. "If I should tell you that a child had been born in this city without a father, would you believe it?" said the non-Christian. "Yes," replied the Christian, "if he should live as Jesus lived."
—Anonymous