Room Enough in the Gospel

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Luke 14:16-24

Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:…

On one of the hottest days of a sultry July, two of us, weary and worn from a long and dusty, tramp along the Portsmouth road, reached at length the top of Hindhead. Not a tree or a shrub within hail, and the sun pouring down remorselessly a flood of fire, there was no sign of shadow except from a large stone cross which garnished Hindhead's summit. Theft cross was elaborately adorned with Latin inscriptions, and in form was accurate and classical; but its shadow was too narrow to furnish perfect shade even for one, much less for two. The shadow was most refreshing, but there was not enough of it, and one traveller must, parched as he was, stand or lie down beneath Sol's blazing beams, for there was no room for him within the cooling shade. Thus may it be with the gospel of Jesus as set forth by some ministries. Jesus is eloquently talked of, but the freeness of His grace and the abundant power of His blood are not enforced; or it may be systematic theology is the preacher's idol, and Christ is narrowed down to the creed; accuracy of doctrine is fostered, but the Christ who is set forth has no breadth of love, no vastness of shade for the refreshment of weary sinners. At the-same time too many take away the solid character of the atonement altogether, and, while aiming at breadth, give us instead of a granite cross a mere gauze with no shade at all. The true scriptural idea of the atonement is "The shadow of a great rock in a weary land." The motto of the gospel of Jesus is, "And yet there is room."

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