The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1893-05-05
SKEPTICISNI.
II Requires More Faith to be an Inf
del Than a Believing Christian.
a gnostics Prefer Miraciec Of Human Nom
sense to the Glorious Achievements of
Jesus Christ sermon by Rev. DIR.
r. Dewitt TaImage, ID. ID.

Rev. DIR. Talmage on Sunday chose
for his subject: 'Over All Forever" the
text being Romans tx, 5: Christ came,
who Is over all"
For 1000 years the world had been
waiting for dcliverer-waiting while
empires rose and fell. Conquerers came
nd made the world worse instead OF
making II better, still the centuries
watched and waited. They looked for
him on thrones, looked for him in pal
acct, looked for him in imperial robes,
looh ed for him at the head of armies.
At last they found Him in q barn. The
cattle stood nearer TO Him than the an-
gels, for the former were In the ad
| Joining stall, while the latter were In
che s:ouds. "A persRRtasu of peasspfry,
| No room for Him in the inn, because
there was no one TO pay the hotel ex
pense. Yet the pointing star and the
angelic cantata showed that Heaven
made up in appreciation of his worth
what the world lacked. Christ came
who " over all, tod blessed forever
Amen"
but who is this Christ who came? As
TO the difference between different de-
nominations of evangelical Christians
have no concern. II II could, by the
turning over of my hand. decide wheth-
err all the world shall at last he Baptist,
or Methodist, or congregational. OF
Episcopalian. or Presbyterian, ] would
not turn my hand. But there are doc
trines which are vital To the soul. II
Christ he not a God. we are idolaters.
To this Chronological question devote
myself this morning, and pray God that
we may think Alright and do Alright in
regard to question in which mistake
Is infinite.
suppose that the majority of those
here to-day assembled believe the
Bible II requires as much faith to be
an infidel as Christian. II Is faith in
a different direction. The Christian has
faith in the teachings Of Matthew
Luke, John, Paul, Isaiah, Moses. The
infidel has faith in the free-thinkers.
We have faith in one class of men.
They have faith in another class of
men. But as the majority of those,
perhaps all of those here assembled,a are
willing to take the Bible as a standard
in morals and in faith, ] make this
book my starting-point
suppose you are aware that the two
generals who have marshaled the great
armies against the deity Of Jesus Christ
are Strauss and Renan. The number of
their slain will not he counted until the
trumpet of the archangcl sounds the
roll-call of the resurrection. Those
I LIS that IN
! they could destroy the fortress of the
miracles they could destroy Christian
ity. and they were right. Surrender
the miracles and you surrender
Christianity The great German exc
gete says that all the miracles were
myths. The great French exegete
says that all the miracles were
! legends. They propose TO take every
thing supernatural from the Bible.
/ They prefer the miracles OF human non
sense 10 the glorious miracles of Jesus
, Christ.
They say there was no miraculous
birth in Bethlehem, but that IL is all a
fanciful story. Just like the story Of
Romulus said TO have been born of Rea
Silvia and the god Mars They say no
star pointed to the manger; IL was only
the fash of a passing lantern. They
Say there was no miraculous making Of
bread. but that il is corruption of the
story that Elisha gave twenty loaves of
bread to a hundred men. They say the
water was never turned into wine, but
that il is a corruption Of the story that
the Egyptian plague turned the water
tS
der that Christ sweat great
drops of blood; He had been
out in the night air and was taken
suddenly i'll. 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,
J and the air was full of electricity which
snapped and flew all around about
the heads of the disciples. They say
that Mary ard Martha and Christ felt
! II important to get up an excitement
for the forwarding of their religion,
and so they dramatized funeral and
| Lazarus played the corpse, and Mary
/ and Martha played the weepers. and
| Christ was the tragedian. ! put il in
my own words, but this is the exact
merning of their statements. They say
Z the Bible is spurious book, written by
superstitious men, backed up by men
who died for that which they did not
believe.
Now. take back the limited state
mcnt which made few moments ago,
when | said it requires as much faith To
be an intidel as to be Christian, II
requires Thousand fold more faith tn
bc an intidcl than To he Christian, for
IL Christianity demand that the whale
swallowed Jonah, then skepticism de-
mands that Jonah swallowed the whale
can prove to YOU that Christ was God
not only by the supernatural appear
ance on that Christmas night, but by
what inspired men said of Him, 10y
what lie says of Himself and by lii'
wonderful achievements Christ came
who il over ALL" An. does not tina
prove too much? Not over thu
CAESARS. not over Frederick, not owe
Alexander the Great, not over the Hen
rvs, not over the Louiscs? Yes. Pill
all the thrones of all the ages together
and my text ovcrspans them as easily
uS u TdlnbbN pNtiNl'hhHa h''"h'"'h- ~
Christ came, who is over all" Their
lie must he a God.
The Bible says that all things were
made by Him. Does not that prove to'
much? Could IL be that lie made thu
Mediterranean, that lie made the iilacl
sea, that lie made the Atlantic, the Pa
cific, that lie made Mount Lebanon
that lie made the Alps, the Sierra Ne
vadas, that lie made the hemispheres
that lie made the universe? Yes. TIT
l,ible says 80, and lest we be too stupi,
to understand, John winds up with |
magnificent reiteIation and says
"Without Him was not anything made
that was made" Then lie was Il God.
| The Bible says at the name of Jesu
'very knee shall bow. All lleavei
must come down ON its knees, apostle
ON their knees, the archangei on hi
knees. Before whom? a man? No, lie
Is God, The liible says every tongu,
shall confess liornesian, Malayau
MeNican, Italian, Spanish, Persian
English Every tongue shall confess
no whoi. God. The Bible says Chris
ltrr anne yesterday, to-day and forever