Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-05-05
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine'S Sum
day Sermon.
Subject; cover All Forever"

TEXT: "Christ came, ,oho is ocer ALL
Romans *, 5.
For 1000 years the world lad been waiting
for deiyerer-waiting while empires rose
and fell. Conquerors came and made the
world worse instead of making it better
still the centuries watched and waited. They
looked for Him on thrones, looked for Him In
palaces, looked for Him in imperial robes,
looked for Him at the head of armies At
last they found Him in barn. The cattle
stood nearer to Him than the angels. for the
former were in the adjoining stall, while the
latter were in the clouds. A parentage of
peasantry No room for Him in the inn be-
cause there was no one to pay the hotel ex-
pense. Yet the pointing star and the angelic
cantata showed that heaven made up in ap-
probation of His worth what the world
lacked. "Christ came, who is over all, God
blessed forever. Amen"
But who is this Christ who came? As to
the difference between different denomina-
tons of evangelical Christians have no con-
Germ. II could by the turning over OF my
hand decide whether all the world shall at
last be Baptist or Methodist or Congregational
or EpiscOpalian or Presbyterian. | would not
turn my hand. But there are doctrines which
are vital to the soul. If Christ be not God,
we are idolators. To this Christological
question | devote myself this morning and
pray God that we may think right and do
Alright in regard to question in which mis-
take is Infinite.
] suppose that the majority Of those here
to-day assembled believe the Bible. II re-
qures as much faith to be an infidel as to be
Christian II is faith in a different direc-
ton. The Christian has faith in the teach
ings OF Matthew, Luke. John. Paul, Isaiah,
Moses. The inGdel has faith in the free
thinkers. We have faith in one class Of men.
how fai in ~ ms
as the majority OF those. perhaps all of those
here assembled. are willing 10 take the Bible
FOR a standard in morals and in faith, make
this book my starting point
suppose you are aware that the two gen.
erals who have marsbaled the great armies
against the deity of Jesus Christ are Strauss
and Renen. The number of their slain will
not be counted until the trumpet OF the arch
angel sounds the roll call OF the resurrection.
Those men and their sympathizers saw that
il they could destroy the fortress OF miracles
they could destroy Christianity, and they
were right. Surrender the miracles and you
surrender Christianity The great Ger
man exegete says that all the miracles
were myths. The great French exegete says
that all the miracles were legends. They
propose to take everything supernatural from
the life Of Christ and everything supernatural
from the Bible. They prefer the miracles OF
Jesus Christ.
They say there was no miraculous birth in
Bethlehem. but that it is all fanciful story,
lust like the story of ROmulus said to have
been born Of Rhea Silvia and the god Mars.
They say no star pointed to the manger it
was only the fash OF passing lantern They
say there was no miraculous making of bread,
but that it is a corruption Of the story that
Elisha gave 20 lOaves Of bread to hundred
bo
into wine but that it is a corruption OF the
story that the Egyptian plague turned the
water into blood. They say it is no wonder
that Christ sweat great drops of blood he
had been out in the night air and was taken
suddenly ILL., They say that there were no
tongues Of fire on the heads of the disciples
at the Pentecost that there was only great
thunder storm, and the air was full of cleo
tricity, which snapped and few all around
about the heads Of the disciples.
They say that Mary and Martha and Christ
felt it important to get up an excitement for
the forwarding of their religion, and so they
dramatized a funeral and Lazarus played the
corpse. and Mary and Martha played the
weepers, and Christ was the tragedian. l
put it in my own words, but this is the exact
meaning OF their statements. They say the
Bible is a spurious book written by super
stitiOus or lying men, backed up by men who
died for that which they did not believe.
Now, l take back the limited statement
which / made q few moments ago, when
said it requires as much faith TO be an in
fidel as to be a Christian. II requires a
thousandfold more faith to be an infdel than
to be q Christian, for If Christianity demand
that the whale swallowed Jonah, then
skeptcism demands that Jonah swallowed
the whale l can prove to you that Christ
was God, not only by supernatural appear
ances on that Christmas night, but by what
inspired men said of Him, by what He says OF
Himself and by His wonderful achievements
Christ came who is over all. All, does
not that prove too much2 Not over the
Caesars. not over Frederick. not over Alex
ander the Great. not over the Henrys, not
over the Louises? Yes. Pile all the thrones
of all the ages together, and my text over
spans them as easily as a rainbow overspans
mountain. Christ came, who is over all.
Then He must be God.
The Bible says that all things were madeby
Him. Does not that prove too much? Could
it be that He made the Mediterranean, that
He made the Black sea, that He made the
Atlantic, the Pacific, that He made Mount
Lebanon. that He made the Alps, the Sieru
Nevadas, that He made the Hemisperes, tina,
He made the uniyersef Yes. The Biblesay:
50, and lest we be too stupid to understand
John winds up with a magnificent reiteratioI
and SAYS. "Without Him was not anything
made that was made" Then He was God.
The Bible says at the name of Jesus every
knee shall bow. All heaven must come down
on its knees. Martyrs on their knees. apos-
ties on their knees cOnfessOrs on their knees.
the archangel on his knees. Before whom? A
man? No,,He is a God. The Bible says every
tongue shall confess-Bornesian, Malayan,
Mexican, Italian Spanish, Persian, English.
Every tongue shall confess. To whom? God.
The Bible says Christ the same yesterday, to-
day and forever. Is that characteristic of
humanity? Do we not change? Does not
the body entirely change in seven years?
Does not the mind changer Does not the
heart change? Christ the same yesterday,
to-day and forever. He must be a God.
Philosophers say that the law Of gravita-
ton decides everything and that the centrp-
etal and centrifugal forces keep the world
from clashing and from demolition. But
Paul says that Christ's arm is the axle on
which everything turns, and that Christs
hand Is the socket in which everything is set.
Mark the words, ''Upholding- upholding all
things by the word Of his power" Then He
must be God.
Then look at what Christ says Of Himself.
Now, certainly, every one must understand
himself better than any one else can under
stand him. II 1 ask you where you were
born and you tell me, II was born In Ches-
ter, England" or 81 was born in Glasgow,
Scotland" or 81 was born in Dublin, Ire
land, or II was born in New Orleans, the
United States, " you being a man Of integrity,
] should believe you. II l 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. 1t is
matter personal TO yourself. You know bet
ter than any one else can tell you.
II | ask how much estate you are worth,
and you say $4,000 or S10O,00O or $500, 900,
/ 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 l ask Him how old He Is,
He says. Before Abraham was, 1 am"
Abraham had been dead 2Oz5 years. Was
Christ 2028 years old? Yes, He says He is
older than that ''Before Abraham was,
am" Then Christ says, II am the Alpha
Alpha is the first letter Of the Greek alphabet,
and Christ in that utterance declared, II am
the Of the alphabet Of the centurieA~ Then
He must be a God.
Can a man be I'm a thousand places at once'
Christ says He is In a thousand places at
once. -wnere TWO or three are gathered to
gether in My name, there am 1 In the midst
Of them" This everywhereativeness, is it
characteristic Of a man or OF a God? And
lest we might think this everywhereativenes
would cease, He goes on, and He intimates
that He will be in all the cities OF the earth