Democratic messenger., 1893-05-06
MARYLAND SATURDAY MORNING MAY s. 1893

world from clashing and from demolition.
But Paul says that Christ s arm is the axle
on which everything turns. and that
Christ's hand is the socket in which every
thing is set Mark the words. "Upholding
-upholding all things by the word Of his
power" Then he must be a God.
THE sAvIouR's own WORDS.
Then look at what Christ says OF himself
Now, certainly every one must understand
himself better than any one else can under
ttand him. II | ask you where you were
born. and you tell me, Il was born in Ches-
ter, England. or Il was born in Glasgow,
Scotland" or Il was born in Dublin, Ire
| land" or Il was born in New Orleans. the
United States. you being man of integri-
ty, should believe you. IL asked you how
many pounds You could lift and you should
say you could lift 100 pounds or 200 pounds
or 800 pounds, should believe you. II is n
matter personal to yourself You know
better than any one else can tell you.
! II ask how much estate you are worth
and you say SIC, 200 or SIO0. GOO or $500 600,
believe what you say. You know better
| than any one else. Now, Christ must know
better than any one else who he is and what
| he is. When ask him how old he is, he
says. Before Abraham was. / am" Abra-
ham had been dead 2,02s years Was Christ
2.Ges years old, Yes. he says he is older
than that. Before Abraham was. am. !"
Then Christ says, Il am the Alpha" Alpha
is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and
Christ in that utterance declared II am the
a Of the alphabet of the centuries" Then
he must be Odd
Can man be in n thousand places at
once, Christ says he is i'm n thousand
| places at once. Where two or three are
gathered together in my name. there am
in the midst of them" This everywhere
ativeness, is il characteristic of man or of
God, And lest we might think this ev-
erywhereativeness would cease he goes on
and he intimates that he will be in all the
cities of the earth-he will be in Europe,
Asia, Africa. North and South America the
day before the world burns up. 10, am
with you alway, even unto the end Of the
world" Why, then. he must be a God.
Besides that he takes divine honors. He
declares himself Lord Of men. angels and
devils. Is hes II he is, he is a God. II he
is not, he is an impostor. A man comes into
your store tomorrow morning. He says: Il
am the great shipbuilder of Liverpool
ustNt butit Ol Tie goes OH
to give his experience You defer to him
as a man of large experience and great pos
sessions. But the next day You find out
that he is not the great shipbuilder Of Liv-
erpool: that he never built a ship: that he
never built anything What is he then, An
impostor. Christ says he built this world:
he built all things Did he build them.
If he did, he is a God. II he did not, he is
an impostor.
EARTHLY IMPOSTOi.S.
4 man comes into your place of business,
with Jewish countcnance and German
accent, and says: Il am Rothschild. the
banker of London. ! have the wealth of
nations in my pocket. | loaned that Large
amount to Italy and Austria in their per-
plexity." But after awhile you find that
he has never loaned any money to Italy or
Austria; that he never had IA large estate;
that he is no banker at all: that he owns
nothing. What is he. An impostor
Christ says lie owns the cattle on n thou
sand hills; he owns this world; he owns the
next world: he owns the universe; he is the
banker of all nations. Is he. II he is, he
is a God. Is he not. Then he is an i'm
poster.
A man enters the White House at Wash
ington. He says: Il am Emperor William
OF Germany. am travelling incognito.
have come over here for recreation and
pleasure. / own castles in Dresden and Ber-
lin" But the president finds out the next
day that he is not Emperor William: that
he owns no castles at Berlin or Dresden;
that he has no authority. What is he. An
impostor. Christ says he is the king over
all. the king immortal. invisible. II he is.
he is a God. II he is not, he is an impostor.
FOOLISH THEORIES OF USBELIEF.
Strauss saw that alternative and he tries
to get out of it by saying that Christ was
sinful in accepting alteration and worship.
Renan tries TO get out of il by saying that
Christ-not through any fault of his own.
but through the fault of others-lost his
purity Of conscience, and he slyly intimates
that dishonorablc women had damaged his
soul Anything but believe that Christ is
God. Now. you believe the Bible to be
true IL you do not. you would hardly
have appeared in this church. You would
have gone over and joined the Broadway
Infidel club. or you would to Boston and
kiss the foot of the statue of Thomas Paine
You would hardly come into this church,
where the most of us are the deluded souls
who believe in whole Bible and take it
all down as easily as you swallow a ripe
strawberry.
have shown You what inspired men said
of Christ. have shown you what Christ
said Of himself Now. if you believe the
Bible, let us 20 out and see his wonderful
ievements-surgicai, alimentary. ma
rinc, mortuary. Surgical achievements!
Wherc is the medical journal that gives any
account of such exploits as Christ wrought:
He used no knife. lie carried no splints.
He employed no compress. Hemade no pa
tient squirm under cauterization. He tied
no artery Yet behold him! With n word
he stuck fast Malchus' amputated ear He
stirred n little dust and spittle into Il salve
and with il caused n man who was born
blind and without optic nerve or cornea
or crystalline lens to open his eyes on the
sunlight. He beat music on the drum of
the deaf ear. lie Strengthened woman
who through contraction of muscle had
been bent almost double for well nigh two
decades He made a man who had no use
of his limbs for 3s years shoulder his mat
trcss and walk of.
Sir Ashley Cooper. A ,ernethy, Valentine
Mott stood powcrless before a withered
arm: but this doctor Of omnipotent surgery
comes in and he sees the paralytic arm use
less and lifcless at the mans side, and
y
hand" and he stretched it forth whole as
the other He was a God.
THE MIRACLE OF THE LoAyEs
Alimentary achievements, He found
lad who had come out of the wilderness
with five loaves Of bread for speculation
Perhaps the lad had paid pennies for the
five loaves and expected To sell them for 10
pennies, and 80 he would double his money
Christ took those loaves of bread and per
formed miracle by which he fed 200
furnishing people. and | warrant you the
lad lost mot Ing. for there were IL baskets
of fragments taken up. and if the boy had
five loaves AT the start | warrant you he
had at least ~ ut the close.
The Saviour's mother goes into a neigh
bor'> house to help get up IA wedding party.
By calcnlati ion she finds out that the amount
of wine is not sufficient for the guests She
calls in Chris. for help. and Christ. not by
the slew decay of fermentation. but by a