The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-08-29

If from the way they mourned
over him. He was to be tte com
panion of his mother. He was to be
his mothers protector. re would re-
turn now some of the kindr esses he had
received in the days Ct childhood and
boyhood. Ave, he would with his strong
| hard uphold that form already enfeebled
with age. Will he dc II? No. In enc
hour all that promise Of help and CON,
panionship IS gone. There IS world OF
anguish in that one short phrase, The
only son Ct his mother, and she Wld'
ow."
Now, my friends, it was upon this
scene tbat Christ broke. He came II
without any introduction. He stopped
the procession. He had only two ut
terance to make-the one to the mourn
| ING mother, the other to the dead. he
cried out 10 the mourning one: Weep
not" ard then touching the bier on
which the son lay, he cried out:
young man, l say unto thee arise!
And be that was dead sat up"
| learn two or three things from thla
subject, and first that Christ was man.
| You see how that sorrow played upon
all the chords CT his heart. think we
| forget this often. Christ was man
mora certainly than you are, for he was
perfect man. No sailor ever slept IN
ships hammock more soundly than
Christ slept in that beat on Gennesaret.
In every nerve and muscle and bone and
fiber of his body, in every emotion and
affection of his heart, in every action
and decision ofhis mind ne was mau.
He locked off upon the sea just as you
| look of upon the waters. He went into
Marsha's house Just as you 60 into cot.
tage. He breathed hard when he was
tired lust as y.u do when you are eX-
hausted. He felt after sleeping cut q
night in the storm just like you do when
Ycu have been exposed to tempest. 1t
was lust as humlliatlug' for him to beg
bread as it would be for you to become
q psuper. He felt Just as much lnsulted
| by being sold for 30 pieces of silver as
you would if yeu were sold for the price
ola dog. From the crown OF the heac
to the sole Of the loot he was a man.
When the thorns were twisted tor bis
brow, they hurt him just as much as
they hurt your brow, if they were twist
| ed for it. He took not on hin the nature
of angels; he took on hlm the seed OF
| Abraham. ''Ecc, homoW-behold the
man!
Bat I must also draw from this sno'
| iect that he was a God. Suppose that
man should attempt to break up a fun
eral obsequy. He would be seizsd by
the law, he would be imprisoned, if he
were rot actually slain by the mob be-
fore the officers could secure him. II
Christ had been mere mortal, would
he have right to come in upon such q
procession? Would he have succeeded
in his interruption? He was more than
q man, for when he cried out, II say
unto thee arise. he that was dead sat up"
What excitement there must have been
thereabouts! The body had lain pros.
trate. It had been mourned over with
agonizing tears, and yet now 1t begins
to move in the shroud, and to be flushed
with life, and at the command Of Christ
he rises up and looks into the faces OF
the astonished spectators.
On, this was the work of God. |
hear it in his voice. | see it in The flash
OF his eye. I behold it in the swapping
of deaths shackles. I see it in the tace
of the rising slumberer. hear it in the
outcrY Of all those who were spectators
OF the scene, II. when [ see my Lord
Jesus Christ mourning with the bereaV.
ed, put my hands on his shoulders and
say, My brother" now that hear him
proclaim supernatural deliVerances l
| look up into his face and say with Thorn.
as, my Lord and my God" Do you
not think he was God? a great many
people do not believe that, aud they
compromise the matter, or they think
they compromise it. They say he was
very good man, but he was not a God.
That Is impossible. He was either a
God or wretch and I will prove It. If
a man processes to be that which he is
not, what is he? He IS a liar, an impos.
tor, a hypocrite. That is your unani'
NOUS verdict. Now, Christ professed to
be a God. He said over and over again
ha was 8 God, took the attributes of aGod
and assumed the works and office OF a
God. Dare you noW say he was not?
He was a God, or he was wretch.
Choose ye.
Do you think cannot prove by this
Bible that he was Goa? Ifyou do not
bslieve this Bible, OF course there is no
need of my talking to you. There IS no
| Id frov yrybInh 70 ofort Snn.
pose you do believe i? Then can
demonstrate that he was divine. can
prove be was creator, John i, 3. "AIl
things were made by hlm, and without
him was not anything made that was
made" He was eternal, Revelation
xxi, IS, II am Alpha and Omega, tie
beginning and the end, the first and the
last" 1 can prove that he was omnip'
otent, Hebrews !, 10, "The heavens are
the work Of thire hands," l can prove
that he was omniscient, John ii, 25,
HE knew what was in man." On yes,
he is God. He cleft the sea. He up.
heaved the crystalline walls along which
the Isrealites marched. He planted the
mountains. He raises up governments
and casts down thrones and marches
across nations and across worlds and
across the universe, eternal, omnipotent
unhindered and unabashed. That hand
that was nailed to the cross holds the
stars in leash of love. That head that
dropped on the bosom IN the fainting and
death shall make the world quake at its
nod. The voice that groaned IN the .ast
| pang shall swear before the trembling
world that time shall be no longer. Oa
do not insult the common sense of the
race by telling US that this person was
only man, in whose presence the par
alytic arm was thrust out well, and the
devils crouched, and the lepers dropped
their scales, and the tempests folded
their wings, and the boys satchel OF a
few loaves made banquet TOR 5000,
and the sad procession of my text broke
10 in congratulation and hosana!
Again, learn from this subject that
Christ was q sympathizsr. Mark you,
this was city funeral. In The country,
when the bell tolls, they know all about
it for five miles around. and they know