The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-06-08

ing but the precocious son of carpenter. Men
believe that Jesus Christ was nothing but an
ambitious moral reforner. Men have all OF these
ideas to who Christ was and what Chris.
was, that are short of His divinity, and short OF
the belief. and short of the declarations that he
was the Son Of God. and they -. those ideas
from the fact that our Christian lives give them
no higher evidence of what He was tnan tnat:
Why, there were in that day VINO SAID OF
Christ. as they watched Him, even as they
Haw Him in person, even as they saw Him going
about teaching. preaching and ministerng to
the people-they said of Him, why He is
wine bibber and glutton: Tney sald de was
the friend of publicans and sinners. They even
denounced Him as ''this fellow" because they
did not know Him. And it is because they did
not Judge of Him by the rightful evidence
that Christ himself was giving and that
His disciples were giving. 1t was because
in that age of the world they were skeptical. un-
believing, and they were in the very lowest
depths concerning the truth. as il was in Christ
Jesus. They were resentful against Him. They
were angry az Him. and, as we discussed this
evening they hated Him because He testified of
their generation that it evil But in this
day aud generation what excuse ls there for any
man being in doubt as to the character of Jesus
Christ as to its divine origin as to its efficacy,
rs to its controlling moral force in the world and
its being the very highest cast, the divinest
model OF what mankind can attain to- except the
5act that none of US are showing to tne world
that it has been eficacious to raise to It's sub
dime heights2
Can you wonder that man down here on the
streets of Indianapolis, keeping bar room or
beer-saleon, has the opinion that Jesus Christ is
n wine bibber and elutton, when he is dealing
. out whisky to any number of processing Chris
Atians every day, in his saloon and bar-rooms
What evidence are you giving him that Jesus
Christ is the Son OF God. the controlling moral,
spiritual force of your life. when you are going
IN and out of his shop, by day and by night drink
ing the damnabe fluids of hell that he is dealing
In, and putting youself upon an equality with
those who visit and those who patronize that
elace2 Every time a processing Christian goes
4to one of these hell-holes he goes there as
aitor to Jesus Christ. to carry evidence
the enemy that Christ is not what
Ne claimed to be- and not what He processes
mat He is lApplause tell you man that
las got the spgit of Christ in him and got 1t
there thoroughly, that has ever been soundly and
truly converted to Christ and is honestly living
~ to his understanding of what Christ is, would
Ather go to hell sober than go into a bar-room to
ct drunk. tApplause.l
And 10 wonder there are so many people
ready to echo the old pharasaical cry that Jesus
Christ is myth, that Jesus Christ is pre-
tender, that Jesus Christ is simply an imposter
In the world, and that He is not the Son of the
living God, and that there is not in Him the
living, dominating principles that will
make a like Him, and bring him,
through Christ home to communion and
6onpanionship with God when we 60 into all
those places making all those exhibitions, under
the lie to our professions. A man asks me what
my opinion of Jesus Christ is, and might 60 to
work describe to him the traits, the qualities,
n characteristics the virtues, the eternal prin-
les that were. all of Them compacted into
"a made Jesus Christ what He was-the alto
Their fullness of the divine revelation from God
what He wanted man to bs-and among those
Squalities / enumerate that one which is
high and supreme in the character of God,
and say that Jesus Christ is to me the
embodiment of Christ. at least of principle,
and that principle justice. say that that justice
takesthe form of brotheriy love- love to my
aeighbor the same as to myself that is justice
shat develops, horates and takes its place in the
economy of intercourse between man and man
In the disposition to do like Christ did. to do
to all men as would have them do unto me-
Sdppose | stand up in the face of ten thousand
workingmen who have been oppressed by men
who are masquerading as Christians in the COM
munity. and who have been ground into dust
and their teeth whetted and made clean by pow
erty in the operations of these men who
have been controlling capital and have been
dominating labor, and who masquerading
as Christians and professors of Christ-how can
] make those ten Thousand men believe that
Jesus Christ is the essence of justice to any man
or to any cause in the world? They will not be-
lieve it. / can only make them believe that
Jesus Christ makes MAI just man when they
see every man in the church of God using all the
powers that God has given him to make justice
the supreme and ruling spirit of the dealings be-
tween man and man. And as long as injustice
rules, and long injustice is connived at,
and engaged in, and winked at and defended by
;nen who are professors of the religion of Jesus
Christ there are millions of men in the world
that will not believe in Christ. When l tell
them that the spirit of Jesus Christ
converts me from worldliness to Goodness
when tell them that the spirit of Jesus Christ
makes all those things that are popular among
men, that are highly esteemed among men, and
that denominations to God, become, also,
denominations to me, and then / go out and en-
gage in those aborninations. give the lie to my
own profession, and lead all mankind that look
upon me to Judge Christ from to believe that
Christ is not what he claims to be.
If you preach against worldliness, card-play-
ing, theaters, dancing, progressive euchre and
all thoee things. people will come to you and
say: do you really think there is any harm in
lancing9 Do you think there Is harm in playing
cards? Do you think anybody is going to be
damned and sent to hell for going to the theater
and opera2' Now understand our position thor
Oughly I do not believe that God cares
whether you play cards whether you don't;
whether you 60 to the theater or don't; whether
you dance or don't / don't believe he
cares anything about the particular
thing you do as between you and Him. don't
think He looks at the deck of cards, or ball ROOM
or any one of the incidents; but looking at the act
or motive, He judges you But if your name is
on the roll of any Christian church of the world
today if you have gone up before the chancel
rail of any Christian church and given your
solemn pledge to God that you would renounce
the world and conform your life to that
Of Jesus Christ, and have gone
and done any of those things God
will put you in hell for lying to Him. Now you
understand it. You had better 60 over to this
SQUIRT house here and swear to lie on the holy
avangei and be put into prison for the balance
of your life than TO go up to the chancel rail and
make solemn pledge and violate 1t. When 1
preach against theater going, dram-drnking
dancing etc, | am preaching to people who have
volun tairly sworn an oath to Jesus Christ, and
who are heaping perjury upon their heads
lsnd drawing upon themselves the wrath
IF an outraged and deceived God. II you
think you are going to deceive God you can just
run that racket as long as you want to. But you
stand on the record of heaven as perjurer until
You get forgiven and begin again to do your duty
20 God. This is the plain logic of the situation,
and there is no logic on earth that can do away