Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-07-22
Colby University.
Abstract of Sermon Delivered before the
Eoardman Missionary Society of Colby
thiversi'y, by Rev. J. n. Murdoch, ID. d.,
OF Boston.


The sermon before this society was delv
cred by Dr. Murdoch on Sunday evening, Ju
ly 10Th, lis subject being "The Power q
Christ the Pledge of the Triumph of Hi.
hingdom.' Text: "And Jesus came ant
spoke unto them, saying, All power is giver
unto me in Heaven and in EARTH" Matt
xviii: IS.
Jesus cane to his disciples not casually
but of set purpose, to deliver his last mes
sage, and to nerve their hearts for the work
he was about to commit to their hands. The
work was momentous, and one from which
they might well shrink unless assured OF
supernatural aid. 1t was nothing less than
CHARACTERIZATION Of the Race. 1t was
| meet, therefore, that he should prepare them
Tor the great task, not only by clear direction
bat by the exhibition Of resources adequate to
its achievement. SO he came and said .'All
power, &c.,' this is the divine guaranty that
, the plan win succeed; and $50, | am with
| you Away, even to the end" is the pledge
of their per- onal security, comfort and til
umph.
Before proceeding to the chief tapic of the
text, II is important TO refer to one or two
points raised by it,
0) What, for instance, is the precise m
port OF the clam which Christ makes when
he says that all power is given unto him d?
He was now exalted far above all principal
| tiles and power. lie wss now, and ever more
10 be recogniz. d. not only as the fountain of
life, bat also ms tae liver OF eternal life TO all
| that believe in his name In that act by
which he took up the life he laid down for
human re1e nption, he had grasped all the
material, moral and spiritual forces of heaven.
earth and hell, aud made them subservient to
his redeemine and saving scheme. This il
| the fair SCOPE and impo,t of his claim. whom
| he asserts tAll power is given unto me, &c -
! (2) In what sense was this power given
| him? Ifhe is what Scripture represents him.
| all power and majesty and dominion belongs
to, and iuhercd in him. How. then. can we
| find sense in which all power could be given
| to him? Since all power inhered in him. not
| only from the beginning, but al origine. The
truth is, the original nature of Christ had heen
| in deep eclipse through his assumption of bu.
| man nature, save as the inefiable corona Of
his God-head shone forth in the wisdom Of his
teachings, and the majesty of his works. lie
| did, indeed, assert during this profound hu-
initiation .'No man taketh my life from me.
| | lay il down OF myself have power to Law
it down. and have the power to take it W
again" But to those who saw him led un-
| hesitatagly to DEATH and who heard those
| '.Mv God My God! Why hast thou forsakc
Tue, - The boast must have seemed empty and
vain, yet The claim was true. He was even
| then, heir of all things, and it was through
death that his succession was to be realized.
| % that he might fully enter on his inhe,i
| lance. He is declared 10 he the Son OF God,
with power by his resurrection from the dead.
| By his resurrection, lie came into the plenti-
| tude Of power and grace which are hence-
forth TO be welded for the renovation of the
ransomed race. The writings of the apos-
ties are full Of this change. from the resurrec-
tons Of the first stage of the restoring work
to the completeness of the one which began
with Christ's resurrection. There was, there
| fore, 4 new invesliture power in Christ after
| his resurrection, in the sense of the perfected
| plan being greater than its beginning.
| From me preliminary views we pass now
| to the main point of the subject in hand. con-
! sidering, first, the fact that ali the forces of
| heaven and earth, are the control of the re-
| deeming and renovating Christ being exer-
| cised for the purposes Of his gospel; and,
secondly, the results which are sure to follow
| from his possession and exercise of this SUI
preme power.
| ] Inc claim which Christ makes is clear
and positive. Is this claim justified by
events! In the days of his flesh, cur Lord
cannot do more than glance at the evidence of
this point gathered from wide field of in
quiry; hut we are able to find enough to
justify the claim, and to give assurance that
| Christ must reign till lie hath put all enemies
under his feet. Let us, then, seek assurance
OF what is to be, from view Of what has al
ready been effected. and which stands to. dsv
as monument of the inyincible power Of the
nan OF Calvary.
| % What proof Of the power Of Christ
is furnished by the preservation of the in
| spired record. By the consent of the learned
world, this book is intact, unmutilated, un-
| changed. Though subjected 10 the seyerest
teXtual scrutiny, alike by friends and
foes, it remains day in form and substance,
in its grand summaries OF doctrine, and in its
minutest details of life, the same as in the
earliest ages. Who could have preserved
this wonderful book from destruction, from
mu,ilation, from change, but he, to whom il,
witnesses from Eden to Calvary, and whose
precepts and promises for man, it embodies,
urges and reiteTates with unrelenting strict
ness and ever increasing inspiration and
hope?
! CD Then think of the continued existence
of that wonderful society which we denomi-