National Baptist world., 1894-08-31


childhood and boyhood. Ay, he would
with his strong hand uphold that form
already enfeebled with age. Will he
do it? No. In one hour all that promise
OF help and companionship is gone.
There is world Of anguish in that one
short phrase: The only son Of his
mother, aud she widow"
Now, my friends, it was upon this
scene that Christ broke. He came in
without any introduction. He stopped
the procession. He had only two ut
terances to make; the one to the
mourning mother, the other to the
dead He cried out to the mourning
one: Weep not;'' and then, touching
the bier on which the son lay, He cried
out: Young man, say unto thee,
Ariser' And he that was dead sat up.
| learn two or three things from this
subject, and. first, that Christ was a
man. You see how that sorrow played
upon the chords of his heart. | think
we forget this too often. Christ was a
man more certainly than you are, for
He was a perfect man. No sailor ever
slept in ships hammock more soundly
than Christ slept in that boat in Gen
nesaret. 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 of His mind. He was a
man. He looked off upon the sea
just as you look off upon the waters.
He went into Martha's house as you 60
into cottage. He breathed hard when
He was tired, just as you do when you
are exhausted. He felt after sleeping
out night in the storm just like you
do when you have been exposed to a
tempest. It was just as humiliating
for Him to beg bread as it would be for
you to become pauper. He felt just
as much insulted by being sold for
thirty pieces of silver as you would if
you were sold for the price of dog.
From the crown of the head to the sole
of the foot He was man. When the
thorns were twisted for His brow, they
hurt Him just as much as they would
hurt your brow if they were twisted
for it. He took not on Him the nature
of angels; He took on Him the seed OF
Abraham. "Ecce homo''-Behold the
mani
But / must also draw from this sub
ject that He was God. Suppose that
a man should attempt to break up a
funeral obsequy; he would be seized by
the law. he would be imprisoned, if he
were not actually slain by the mob be-
fore the officers could secure him. If
Christ had been a mere mortal, would
He have right to come in upon such a
procession? Would He have succeeded
in his interruption? He was more
than a man, for when He cried out:
81 say unto thee, Arise" He
that was dead sat upr' What ex-
citement there must have been
therea bouts! The body had lain
PROSTATE. 1t had been mourned over
with agonizing tears, and yet now ii
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,
Oh, this was the work of a God! Ihear
it in His voice; | see it in the fash OF
His eye; behold it in the swapping OF
the deaths shackles; l see it in the
face of the rising slumberer; 1 hear it
in the outcry of all those who were
spectators of the scene. If, when | see
my Lord Jesus Christ mourning with
the bereaved, put my hand on His
shoulder, and say: my brother, .
now that l hear Him proclaim
supernatural deliverances, I look uI
into his face and say with Thomas
''My Lord and my God" Do you not
think he was a God? A great many
people do not believe that, and they
compromise the matter, or they thinl
they compromise it. They say He was
very good man, but He was not {
God. That is impossible. He was
either a God or a wretch, and / will
prove it.
Do you think cannot prove by thi:
Bible that He was God? If you dc
is no need of my talking to you. There
is no common data from which to start
Suppose you do believe it? Then l car
demonstrate that He was divine.
can prove He was Creator, John i, 3
"All things were made by Him; ant
without Him was not anything made
that was made" He was eternal, Rev
xii, 13: II am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, the first ano
the last" l can prove that He was
omnipotent, Heb. l., 10: The heaven:
are the work of Thine hands" I car
prove He was omniscient, John IL, %
''He knew what was in man" Oh
yes, He is God. He cleft the
sea. He upheaved the crystal
line walls along which the Israel
ties marched. He planted the mount
aims. He raises up governments ant
casts down thrones, and marches acros
nations, and across worlds, and acros;
| the universe, eternal, omnipotent. un
hindered and una Dashed. That hanC
| that was nailed to the cross holds the
stars in leash of love. That head tha
| dropped on the bosom in fainting anC
death shall make the world quake a
| it's nod. That voice that groaned il
| the last pang shall swear before The
| trem bling world that time shall be NJ
longer Oh, do not insult the common
sense of the race by telling US that thi
| person was only a man, in whose pres
| ence the paralytic arm was thrust on
| we'll, and the devils crouched, and tn,
lepers dropped their sc ales, and tn
tempests folded their wings, and th'
bows satchel of a few loaves made
| l., fo,. nOO and the sad 11rOcaS