The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-04-28
"CHRISH IS RISEN" "
FIRTH, LOVE, AND HOLINESS ARE THE
FOUNDATION STONES OF OUR sPIR-
ITUAL EpIFICE.
Tie Doctrine of the Resurrection Is
the Basis Upon Which the Chris
tian Religion is Founded.
Sermon by the Rev. S. A. Weber IN the
Methodist Church, Abbevil1e, OH Easter
MORNING. 1886.

uo1uluS, IoCo.
AS the congregation entered the Methodist
chm rcls, the pre- tticSt decorations greeted the
eye from the charcel railing, the tables and
pulpit, while on the wall in rear Of heprcach-
er were the words, made of evergreen leaves
-'Christ Is Risen." Rev. s. y. Webe., the
pastor, delivered the following sermon which
we reproduce in full, and which will be read
with interest by host of admirers:
TEXT: II determined not to know anything
Among yuu save Jesus Christ aNd him cr0citcd.' =
] Cor. IL, 2.
1t is most appropriate, on this Easter Sun
day. the anniversary OF the resurrection ofour
Lord, 10 review III order to emphasize their
Importance TO our faith and experience. the
basal facts Of our holy religion. The Apostle,
whose words we quote as text, was splell-
did illustration OF the doctrine he preached:
He was the uncOmpronlSlnS advocate ana
minister of Il system OF truth which admit
ted of no compi Onise with its oljectorS or en-
enies, whether found among his own coun'
trymen or among the cultured ana phlio,
sophie Greeks. ''Christ and Him Crucihed,
I.JcsuS and the Resurrection" this was llS
tneme-a stumbling block to the prcjudiccd
Jew and luoIi>iness t0the Greek; but unto
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ, the power Of God anu the wisdom oi
God
/. The imposing apparatus Of ceremonial
rites and SpectaclcS, familiar IN the worship
tended by Divine wisdom 10 make the truth
impressive and effective. Instead OF being
wisely used, however, 1t was unwlsely
abused; and instead OF only subScrvlng the
eud intended. the result was 10 increase in
the Jewish mind a demand for the sensible
and the gross. Hence we find their frequent
lapseS into idolatry and also their chaStiSc-
lnents on account of their idoIatries. Now
they are delivered into the hands of their Ell.
emles, now they are scOurgcd w Tn famine ana
:pcstience, finally they are carried away INTO
tt.,itt Nnf,y
punitive and corrective providenccs oi God,
this strong tendency to idoatry remained in
full force TO the last and was in full force when
Christ appeared. They-;he Jews-rejected
the untity pc and clung to the type; they re-
.jected the Substance and cluns To the shadow.
They sought after miracles, not us means,
but as an end They looked for Christ as Il
temporal prince and his Kingdom as mate.
rial one. They looked for improvement to
their outward condition rather than to their
spiritual.
is still a pecuiarity of the Jewish mind and
character They still look for i great deliver.
era national Messiah. Find the Jew wher-
ever you will, his eye is still toward Jerusa,
dem. His hopes 2re centered there. He still
requires sign and expects Savior accom-
modatipg himself to his pre.conceived opin.
ions. He makes pilgrimages to the Holy
City. He lingersabOut Zion.
Tosuch the doctrine of Jesus and the Res
urecton' was an otfense, and is. Expect
ing their Messiah come into all the cir.
cumstance OF splendid royalty. how were
they offended in One, "who made himself OF
no reputation and tuUk upon him the form OF
ii servant"
The humbling ard leveling doctrines Of the
meek and lowly Jesus stand greatly IN con-
trast with the predictions of the Hebrew
mind Christ in organizing his Church took
not the apparatus and ritual OF the Temple
Tor his model but its arrangements OF wor-
ship and service were adopted from the sim
alcr and more recent uSages of the synagogue.
Its chief strength and beauty consisted and do
consist, both in the simplicity of its ritual ar
rangeinents and in the simplicity of It's doc
:trinal aud its practical requirements.
1t has only two sacraments, Baptism and
dhe Lords supper, the form or the cclcDra
ton OF neither of which is enjoined. Mode il
OF secondary Importance. The moral and
spiritual Significance underlying mode is the
prime consideration. The prescription oI
mode leads first to giving undue Importance
TO mode and finally TO maxim. an idol OF IT,
And thus devotion Is degraded Into ldOlatry
1t seems to me that the Church best fulhlls
the end of its institution and the object of its
lnents and formulae of worship md doctrine
there Is shown less Of he sign and more of the
thing signihed, less of the simply formal and
more OF the essentially spiritual. There is q
great disposition in the natural heart 70 lay
undue stress on the forplaitieS OF religious
worship-to lay too much stress on the letter
and not enough on the spirit, and wherever
this Is the case 1t ends in superstition ano
bigotry. superstition aud bisotry, twin Sis
ters these.
Every branch OF the Christian Church tends
to honor its peculiaritieS too much. When
you look into the differences of the evansel
lcal churches. you don't find them to differ a.
TO their foundation principle, which is "Jcsu:
and the Resurrection but us to nOn.essen ti;t
forms and docirlnal differences that In fac
make practical difference. immersion
among the Baptists, the Apostolic Succession q
the EpiScOpalianS, the Five Points Of the Pres
hyterianS, and the ArminianiSn that the
NlethodiStS teach, constitute no sufficient rea
son to array these several cOmmuni"ns, the
.<,ne againSt the other; and especially so q:
they stand in the presence and in solid pha
nanX in the front of common foe.
Mrthodism was intended by him, who un
der God was its founder, to have no doctrina
peculiurities as q condition ol nemDership
The only condition required OF those wht
seek a place among us is a, desire to flee tht
wrath to come and to be saved from sin
Faith, love, and holiness, these are the foun
dution stones of our spiritual edli1ce we at
tach but little importance to form. we hap
tiZe by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, Il:
the candidate or sponsor may decide. We ad
minister the sacrament Of the LoEd' S Suppe
to the communicant, kneeling,- sitting, o
standing, as may be preferred. We preach
.crucified and an arisen Christ-a stumbling
block to the Jew and to all modern JudaiZers
who rest in the shadow to the neglect OF tn
substance, who pay more attention TO IN
sign than the siynified savior. An! m,
brethren, if we only exempted IN the prac
tice of our lives and in their spirit. what w
believe and teach, and all we believe ant
teach, how much less emasculated would W.
be OF the vrile strength Of a live Church o
the living God!
n. "TRe Greeks seek after WISDOM" and IL
this, their national peculitrity, may we &C
count for their rejection of the gospel o
Christ. Early in their history they received
bilious of literary distinction and lovin
learning for it's own sake, they distinguished