Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-10
A GREAT COMMISSION.
Duty Laid Upon the Church in the
Second Sermon on the Mount.
DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS.
1t Was Not to Bs Q LEGAL Crusade, blt to
Embrace the World.
TIE BlPrIsn AHD The TEACHING
WRITTEN yon TEE D1srATon.I

preached the second sermon on the Mount
Some say that there were II people in the
congregation, some say that there 900. Any
how. we may be sure that the number made
no difference to Him. That 10 one Of the
notable things about Christ, that He never
cared about the size Of the congregation.
Eleven people, or ], 100 people, He made no
change in the sermon. Perhaps the most
important sermon BE ever preached was
that In which his pulpit was . moss-grown
well-curb and where He had . congregation
Of one. It matters little how many people
heard the second sermon on the Mount.
It is worth while, however, TO notice this
about the congregation: That although they
had heard Christ preach before, aud many
times. they came to this sermon as they had
never come to any other. You can see a
change in the attitude Of the disciples
toward the Master. "When they saw Him,
they worshiped Him, but some doubted" I"
Some worshiped and some doubted. Some,
sure that II was He, fell down ct His feet In
alteration. But some looked second time,
and waited until He got nearer, guessing
that 1t was the Lord, but not certain. Here
Is something to think about.
AMonth With Dead Man.
They had come along the country road,
between the green fields of the Syrian May,
silence all the wayi Marvels, and marvels,
and marvels, more than they had tongues
for, to talk aboutl These men had lived
such month as no other men have lived
since Enoch walked with God. They had
lived a month with dead man. And the
dead man had touched them with his hands,
sat down to supper with them. held long and
wonderful conversations with them, and had
proved to them that he was not dead man
at all, but alive, and alive for evermorei
The gates of death had opened, and He had
come back to live with them for 40 days.
And as they climbed the hill, the old hill
beside the lake where He used to meet them
in the davs of their ministry together, be-
hold Figure coming down. And some
worshiped, but some doubted.
Christ and His disciples had lived very
familiarly together. They had vague and
dim idea sometimes that He was somehow
quite different from the rest Of them. But
they had never thought of worshiping
Him. AS for any doubt OF His identity,
and difficulty about knowing who He was
when they saw H i'm, there had never been
such thing. They knew Him as we know
our friends. They could recognize Him q
quarter of q mile away, and never make
mistake.
A Change Not to Be Described.
But there was difference now. Christ
was changed after His resurrection. The
men who were walking out to Emmaus
walked all the way with Christ and talked
with Him all the way, and did not know
Him. The disciples, gathered in the upper
room, were scared at His sudden entrance,
crying out that it was ghost. Peter and
James and John, who knew Him best, stood
at His side upon the shore Of the Sea of
Galilse and looked into His face and heard
His voice, and yet wanted to ask "Who art
thou?" and burst not, knowing that 1t
was the Lord" They we're absolutely sure
that 1t was the Lord-and Jet, what was it
abo ut Him which held them back from the
thing. He who preached the second sermon
on the Mount had somehow unspeakably
and indescribably changed since Ee preached
the first sermon.
The truth is that Christ rose with spirit
ual body. And that is something about
which, at present, we knew nothing.
"There is natural body and there is .
spiritual body" The natural body is laid
in the grave, and God will give us "another
body as it hath pleased Him." q spiritual
body. That is what we are told about our
own resurrection. There Is little use in
talking much about the shapes and oolors Of
Things That Are in the Dark.
By ind by, when Christ gives us light, We
shall see with our own eyes, and know per-
iectly. 1t does seem plain, however, stand--
ing among the congregation before the
second Sermon on the Mount begins, shat
when we say that 'on the third day He
rose again from the dead" and mean BY that
that life came back to His crucifed body,
and the still heart began to beat, and the
cold hands began to move, and He rose up
IS Lazarus did and came out Of the grave
If we mean no moro than that, We are only
1t the beginning OF the truth.
Nobody had any difficulty about recog-
lizing Lazarus. but there was q difficulty
IF Lazarus was not like our own resurrec-
ion at all; but the resurrection of Christ
was. He did rise again from the dead in
Iuch body that He could show Himself
,live, and convince the hardest headed un-
believer that He was risen indeed. And
ret, was 1t the same body? Down He comes
,long the hillside, as we stand here watch.
ng. Is 1t indeed the same Jesus of Nssa-
eth that we used to know? Yes; it is He
and yet how marvefously changed And
ome doubt, and some worship.
A Grand and Noble Commission.
30 the sermon begins, and the doubts end.
4 brief sermon, as they who listened have |
emem bered 1t for us. more like text than
sermon, in these words: "All authority
,ath been given unto me in heaven and on |
arth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples |
# all the nations, baptizing them in the |
Iame Of the Father and of the Son and OF |
he Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe |
III things whatsoever I have commanded |
'ou; and 10, am with you alway, even |
into the end Of the world" This is the |
econd Sermon on the Mount.
"Ail authority hath been given unto me
n heaven and on EARTH" That they were
o understand at the beginning. The head
{ the new kingdom of Gvd, which was to
e begun on earth, was to be Christ Himself.
,hrist was to be the center of all its theol-
gy, the possessor of the authority of |
eaven. Christ was to be the heart of all its
norality. the possessor of the authority of |
arth. When they thought of God, and |
rendered what God was like. they were to
blink of Him and get an answer to all their
uestions. They knew God because they |
new Him. When they thought of duty,
nd we're perple1ed amidst temptations, or
onfused among many authorities in
hurch or state and questioned what to do,
hey were to obey Him; He was to be their
uide, their counsellor, their conscience.
The Need Of the Disciples.
"Go ye, therefore. and make disciples of
II the natious." Does that follow? Christ
as all power. Does He need this little
ompany of Galilean peasants? He who
assesses all authority in heaven and OH