The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1892-09-22


hearts leap with glsdnesss. with insx-
pTessible hope al the glorious usought
And know the secret q this Joy Tney
were not rejoicing over tfl.. deiive~anes
OF dogma or a scheme % doctrine or a /
creed They did not rejoice g. tnev
looked back and remembered the r..r-
lection OF the system Of sacred theoIoyv
which he had delivered. They reJuio.-l
IN the person Of Christ. They were nes
philosophic adherents OF adusirerS. The
were friends, followers, loye-s II his
person. They reioieed becans- :Isesr
master and friend had risen
CHRISTIANITY Is cHasr-
short time ago Ne ara tald TIA. a
greet apostle Of positivism s1tgrlishs-l
the world by declariu, TIA. ~ ha.1 l.ss...
Christian il his youth. and had given
mp Christianity. Ii ;hen pruc,~y1s-l
with the utmost simplicity {" disco
that by Icing Christina IN his yoath b.
meant that when he was u l-.y ht held Ger
tain metaphysical dogu.as regarding the
creation of the univerga and fh-. MATURE
Of the soul The trouble with the Hal.
simply Was he never mad ans Chris
tianity Ia abandon. 4 4iiau cannot yI1
up what he has not NJ. tn fat l.
that christianity Is Christ. T. be a
Christian l. to possess the .1irit e Christ,
to partake Of his nature, l. ~ a gE.rtake-
in the most diyinely ultimate s.nse Of
his personality. He Is 'he very essence
of Christianity In him Is life and light
He that believeth int Christ Is Chris
tian, and only he ~. believeth into
him, who partakes Of his life and pur-
pose, and is thus a personal follower OF
the person of Christ, can lay any claim
to knowledge Of Chra.ti&aity
And if tins personal revelation IL thus
the essential element Of Christianity
around the person Of Christ clusters all
the great problems OF the Christian world
and the Christian hear. And before the
events Of his life We must stand and
confront AL the questions asked BY
human philosophy and human science.
and men have asked today with bald
earnestness the question. Did he ri-e
from the deady' WITH al my %oal be-
lieve it And baiiev that every Chris
| tan should ne able p Civ reason for
| the hope That is in hi'p.
Let as simply retr5eIr then, th5S morn
| ing, briefly the reasons tohy ri h7or that
Jesus Christ did rise ,,-cHi tie 1ead
We know it.
First--From inviDc BILE, historic test
| mony to the fact of his life, crUcitixion.
death and resurrection.
We have historical evidence III the
| history of the Hebrew race in the first
l H. L. ,.GT 4 Il.
in the story of humanity. View it from
whatever point you please, there is no
| theory of mere rationalism or of mythol-
| ogy that can explain The simple facts OF
| Jewish history. There is but one sane
| explanation, and that is that the people
| Of Israel were a chosen people. Their
| history is unique in the history of man
kind. 1t has no parallel and cannot be in
terpreted by the ordinary laws under
| which nations have had their rise and
| development.
| THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE
! PROPHECIES FULFILLED.
Far back in the past there rose the
race of prophets whose language pointed
l forward to the coming of this mysterious
parsonage. We read the Twenty second
Psalm and find the description of his
death. You must leap the chasm of a
thousand years from the date Of that
Psalm to find the explanation of its
phraseology.
! In the life of Jesus Christ there We're
fulfilled three hundred and thirty tire,
groups of prophecy from the ancien5
history of the Jegt 1hlee tMdEe'!
and thirty three distinct groups of
| prophetic uttersnces were fulfilled il his
| life, and within these separate groups
there We're smaller groups Of sneclflc
prophecies which We're literally fulfilled
; which would raise the possibility Of such
events happening by chance TO such a
point that it. passes the power Of the
! mind of man to believe such things
could happen by chance.
| And then we have the witness Of his
followers, who were at first surprised at
the thought of his resurrection. They
tell the story with the utmost simpler
ty. Without entering into minute de
tails, without straining for effect, with
out making any effort to impress TIT
world with its dramatic Importance
they stand forth as the simple witnessa:
of facts which they observe. They de
clare that during forty days he appeared
on distinct occasions, under different cir
! cumstances, to different groups of the dis
| ciples, on one occasion to as many as fivt
hundred These facts were proclaimed
through the First century of Christian
ty and remained undisputed. They re
manned undisputed until centuries after
I ward, when before them was written thu
| question mark of the skeptic, who hat
no sympathy for or knowledge of tn
| Christ, or of the truths which he taught
and was therefore utterly incompeten
! as critic.
JESUS SAID SO.
| Second-We know that Jesus r0S
| from the dead, because he said he woGl'
rise. 1t is 50 because Jesus said so.
| The witness Of such d man Is lnvlncl
| Bile evidence OF truth. There are certain
| tests which render testimony invulnera
BILE. By every suR test the word o
/ Jesus stands. In the first place, there
| unity and consistency III the whole q
| his testimony. The story of his life pre-
| sents uniform and consistent unfold
ing of sublime principle of a kingdom
invisible, eternal, which he came to es
| tablish on the earth in utter confiic
with all the powers of his day. He wa
perfectly willing to die by that teachin
as he had lived by it And when tn
hour came he calmly farned his face to
ward Jerusalem in spite IF the protest
of his followers, was tried, condemne
/ and cr11cified.
His behavior on the witness stand, i
which his life and truth hung in the ba
, ance, stamps his testimony as the essenc
of truth itself. We judge a witness a
, to credibility by this test-his behavior
See him, as he stands before the San
hedrin with his life in his hands, wit
his life hanging upon the answer tina
/ should fall from his lips. The hig
/ priest puts to him the Jewish oath an
/ on his oath asks him the question
/ cart thou the Christ the Son of tn