DRAWING POWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1071, 8 September 1930, Page 5

DRAWING POWER

CHRIST’S OWN ESTIMATE OF HIS CROSS “IF I BE LIFTED UP” Christ’s words, *T, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me,” formed the foundation of a sermon by the Rev. F. A. Thompson in the Northcote Presbyterian Church last evening. The preacher’s subject was, “Our Lord’s Estimate of His Cross,” and his text, St. John xii., 31-32: “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” This He said signifying what death He should die.

How did our Lord regard His Cross? asked the preacher. What was the meaning and value of that suffering and death, as seen by Christ Himself? The text brought us into the heart of the answer. We saw Him calmly preparing for His Cross. He pressed forward with steadfast face that amazed and over-awed His followers. He deliberately sought His Cross, actually forcing the issue, and bringing about the crisis, for that was the effect of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It was a startling fact that Jesus believed in the Cross, believed in the instrument that was to end His own life, continued Mr. Thompson. Its most constant advocate was its own victim. His own words expressed a threefold estimate of the Cross. He declared, first, the discerning power of the Cross. "There comes judgment upon this world,” He said. Man was so blinded by sin, misled by appearances, so devoid of discernment that, left to himself, his judgment of the world was erroneous. The one dire need was a point at which this world could be discerned and defined. Calvary sent forth the declaration that in _ evi l itself there was no mercy, and from its victims it exacted the utmost penalty. “Be of good cheer,” said Christ; "I have overcome the world.” The discerning power of the Cross, both in its judgment and its condemnation, made the Christian content to let the world go by. For Calvary was the world’s commentary on Christ and the Christian life. The destructive power of the Cross was summed up in our Lord’s words: “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out,” evicted, that is; lose the supremacy over man; the beginning of the gradual expulsion of Satan from God’s earth. “He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil,” says John in his epistle. The death of Christ was the death-blow to Satan’s Kingdom and the foundation of His own.

The drawing power of the Cross was set forth in the Lord's words: “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” The third element in the value of the Cross as seen by Him was its power to liberate, to transform, to convert and save men and women. Bright among the anticipations of Jesus gleamed the h°P e , ***** when the eyes of men had beheld Him, and understood His meaning and viewed things from His standpoint they would be drawn to Him and believe.

Mr. Thompson concluded with this quotation from E. B. Browning: As I shall be uplifted on a Cross e™ t S «clipse and anguish dread, **** H p ln , My Pierced hands, < L ark ’ light—not unto death. But life—beyond the reach of guilt and grief, The whole creation.