persuadest me to be a Christian." In fact, however, he was far from being "persuaded." He was convinced but set against Christ, because his heart was wholly preoccupied. It was full of his mistress, Bernice, who sat beside him.

The young ruler who came running to Jesus and prostrated himself, crying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" was in no condition to consider the problem of eternal life, because his heart was filled with the passionate love of gold. It was for this reason that Jesus said, "Go part with everything that thou hast; then come and follow me." In other words, the preoccupation of the heart must be disposed of by repentance before Christ can enter in.

The will, in like manner, is so stiffened by prejudice that any vital grasp of truth is impossible. When Galileo was summoned before the Inquisition to be tried for heresy, in that he affirmed the revolution of the earth, he said to his judges, "I can convince you. Here is my telescope; look through it, and you shall see the moons of Jupiter!" But they refused to look. They were convinced that the earth did not revolve around the sun, and no amount of evidence could unconvince them.

In such a case, where mind, heart and will are warped against truth, there is little or no hope. A doubter of this sort is self-doomed to unbelief. He thinks obliquely, prays, if at all, to himself and reads the Bible with jaundiced eyes. Jesus told the Pharisees that it was vain for them to search the Scriptures, which testified plainly for him, because, as he said, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life."

The effect of prejudice is likened to witchcraft by Paul where he says, "O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was evidently set forth cruci'fied among you?"

But Nathanael, though a doubter, was open to conviction. Therefore, his doubts vanished and he became

A believer As he sat under the fig-tree his friend Philip approached, saying, "We have found the Messiah!" And when Nathanael gave expression to his incredulity, the answer was, "Come and see!"

He came and saw and was conquered. His doubt as to the Messiahship of Jesus was solved by the fact that his mind

was ready to weigh the evidence, his heart was open to the entrance of truth, and his will was in a condition to act upon it. At the close of his interview with Christ, being convinced of the validity of his claims, he made his confession, "Thou art the Son of God!"

And thence onward the pathway was plain before him. Christ promised that he should "see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man"; that is, that the truth of his Messiahship should be made clearer and clearer until Nathanael should behold all the divine glory centering in and resting upon him. So it is written "We shall know if we follow on to know." We hear of Nathanael only once more; when, three years later, he stood with the disciples on the lake-shore and saw Jesus with the splendor of the resurrection shining in his face. By this we are given to understand that he persevered as a faithful follower of Christ.

The appeal of the gospel is to honest doubters; for honest doubters are reasonable men. The question of the deity of Jesus must be settled, like other great problems, by an appeal to the facts. The final argument is, "Come and see!"

A hundred years ago a book was written in England to prove that it was impossible for a vessel to cross the ocean by the power of steam, for the reason that no vessel could store enough coal. The first copy of the book that reached this country was brought over in a steamship! The argument was refuted by the fact; and there was no controverting it.

In "Harper's Magazine," fifty years ago, there appeared a cartoon representing a man speaking into a hole in the wall and holding a trumpet to his ear. Presently the telephone was at hand and the cartoon lost its force. So I say the ultimate appeal in every argument is to facts; and the greatest fact in the moral universe is Christ.

To every honest doubter, therefore, we address the words of Philip, "Come and see!" Open your Bible and you shall see the majestic figure of Christ walking through it from the prophecy in Genesis, "The Seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's head," down to the prophecy of Malachi, “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in its wings." Open your history and you shall see the

figure of Christ looming up more and more in the progress of the centuries until all the Cæsars and Alexanders seem like pigmies beside him! Then listen to the testimony of hundreds of millions of people who certify out of their personal experience that Christ has power on earth to forgive sin. And having done all this, look within. Hear the cry of your own soul for pardon and peace; and, lifting your eyes, behold the Lamb of God!

No more than this is asked of honest men, and surely no less. Do you own reading; do your own thinking; face the problem as men who must stand alone at the great assize. Here is Jesus. He is his own best argument. Behold him! Let him speak for himself. He is able to save unto the uttermost all who will come unto him. Take no man's word for it. Come and see!

V

WILL YOU LOOK AT THIS SINGULAR MAN?

IT IS related that Jesus on one of his journeys came to Sychar, where Jacob's well was; and "being wearied with his journey he sat thus" (that is, like any weary man) “by the well."

This man on the well-curb is well worth looking at because, though obviously a man, he claims to be the only begotten Son of God. He claims to have been "in the glory of the Father before the world was." He claims to have come into the world on a definite errand; namely, to deliver men from the power of sin. He claims that when his errand is accomplished he will return again to the glory which he had with the Father before the world was. These are stupendous claims. It behooves us to know whether they are true or not; for in them are involved the issues of life.

Observe, he is a man. This is easy to see. He is "bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh"; that is, "able to be touched with a feeling of our infirmities" because he is one of us.

He is a poor man. Not a prince in purple, nor a beggar in rags, but one of the Third Estate of toiling men. He has no home of his own. "The foxes have holes," he said, "and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." He has no well-filled purse. He has come to Sychar afoot. No doubt many travellers passed him on beasts of burden or borne in gilded palanquins and chariots; but he trudged on, staff in hand.

If he was what he claimed to be, then all the wealth in the bosom of the everlasting hills belonged to him; but he had stooped to share the struggles of the poor, that he might be able to sympathize with all "prisoners of poverty," and that

we, by his poverty, might become rich toward God. 2 Cor. 8:9. He is a man of sorrows. You may read that in his face. The chastening touch is there. He is bearing some burden that weighs heavily upon him. What is it? "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Nay, more, "the chastisement of our peace was upon him." If we follow this wayfaring man we shall presently see him coming to Calvary, bearing his cross. This is the burden of the world's sin, and he will bear that burden until his great heart shall break under it.

He is a benevolent man. That is written in his face. This journey to Sychar is a labor of love. "He must needs go through Samaria," a roundabout way, to meet a sinful woman who needed him. This was his habit. His biography is written in the brief monograph "He went about doing good." On his itineraries among the villages the sick were laid on couches along the way and "he had compassion upon them and healed them all."

He is a sinless man. And here we part company with him. "For there is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." It is recorded of Adam that he was made without sin but also without positive character. For that he must be exposed to trial. He was tempted accordingly and fell! This man at the well is "the second Adam," who was also born in innocence and subject to trial. He too was tempted, and won out!

In this he stands solitary and alone among all the children of men. He never committed a wrong act; he never spoke a wrong word; he never entertained a wrong thought. He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." His challenge was "Who convicteth me of sin?" The answer was made by Pilate, who sentenced him to death: "Behold the man; I find no fault in him at all!" And this is the testimony of all the succeeding ages. Not even the bitterest of the foes of Jesus has found a joint in the harness of his perfect righteousness. He stands alone, the one incomparable man.

For this reason he calls himself "the Son of Man." Observe, he never calls himself a Son of Man, but always "the Son of Man"; thus setting himself apart as the perfect or