Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-05-04

thing is set. Mark the words, ~ phOldlng
-upbolding all things by the word of his
power" Then he must be 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
stand him. If l ask YOU where you were
born, and you tell me, 81 was bora in Ches-
ter, England" or II was born in Glasgow,
Scotland" or 81 was born in Dublin, Ire
land" or ~ was born in New Orleans, the
United States, you being man of integri-
ty, | should believe you. If asked you how
many pounds you could lift and you should
say you could lift 100 pounds or 200 pounds
Or 300 pounds, should believe you. 1t is a
matter personal to yourself. You know
better than any one else can tell you.
If ask how much estate you are worth
and you say $4,000 or 500, 900 or 100000, |
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,O!S 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 centuriesn Then
he must be a God
Can man be in n thousand places at
once? Christ says he is in 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 it characteristic of a man or of
a God? And lest we might think this ev-
erywhereativencsS would cease he goes on
and he intimates that he will be in all the
cities of the earth-hc will be in Europe,
Asia, Africa. North and South America the
day before the world burns up. "Lo, am
with you Away, 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 he? If he is, he is God. If he
is not, he is an impostor. a man comes into
your ST ore tomorrow morning. He says: IL
am the great shipbuilder of Liverpool. |
have built hundreds of ships" He goes on
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 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 n God. If he did not, he is
an impostor
EARTHLY 1MPOsTORS.
A man comes into your place of business,
with a Jewish countenance and German
accent, and says; Il am Rothschild, the
banker Of London. l 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 large estate;
that he is no banker at all; that he owns
nothing. What is he? An impostor
Christ says he owns the cattle on 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? If he is, he
is God. Is he not? Then he is an i'm
poster.
A man enters the White House at Wash
ington. He says: II am Emperor William
of Germany. ] am travelling incognito. l
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;
impostor Christ says he is the king over
all, the king immortal, invisible If he is,
he is a God. If he is not, he is an impostor
FOOLISH THEORIES OF UNBELIEF.
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 it 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 dshonorable women had damaged his;
soul. Anything but believe that Christ is
God. Now, you believe the Bible to be
true. If you do not, you would hardly
have appeared in this church. You would
have gone over and joined the Broadway
In1idel club, or you would 90 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 90 out and see his wonderful
achievements-surgic alimentary, ma
rne, mortuary. Surgical achievements
Where is the medical journal that gives any
account of such exploits as Christ wrought
lie used no knife. He carried no splnts.
He employed no compress. Hemade no pa
tent squirm under cauteriZation. He tied
no artery. Yet behold him! With word
he stuck fast Malchus amputated ear He
stirred little dust and spittle into salve
and with it caused a man who was born
blind and without optic nerve or cornca
or crystalline lens to open his eyes on the
sunlight. He beat music on the drum OF
the deaf ear He Strengthened woman
who through contraction Of muscle had
been bent almost double for well nigh two
decades. He made Il man who had no uso
of his limbs for IS years shoulder his mat
tress and walk off.
! Sir Ashley Cooper, Abernethy, Valentine
Mott stood powerless before withered
arms but this doctor Of omnipotent surgery
comes in and he sees the paralytic arm use
less and lifeless at the mans side, and
/ Christ says to him, "Stretch forth thine
/ hand" and lie stretched it forth whole "A.
the other. lie was God.
THE MIRACLE OF THE LoAVES.
| Alimentary achievements He found &
/ lad who had come out of the wilderness
with five loaves of bread for speculation