Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-08-24

without any introduction. He stopped
the procession. He had only two utter
ances to make-the one to the mourn
ing 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. l say unto thee arisel' And he
that was dead sat up.
learn two or three things from this
subject, and first that Christ was
man. You see how that sorrow played
upon all the chords of his heart. think
we forget this too often. Christ was
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 on Gennesaret.
In every nerve and muscle and bone
and fiber of his body, in every emotion
and affection of his heart, i'll every ac-
ton 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
Marthas house just as you 60 into q
cottage. He breathed hard when he was
tired, Just az you do when you are ex-
hausted. He felt after sleeping out a
night in the storm just like you do
when you have been exposed to a tenn
pest. 1t was just as humiliating for him
to beg bread as it would be for you to
become a pauper. He felt just as much
insulted by being sold for 80 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 q
man. When the thorns were twisted
for his brow, they hurt him just as
much as they 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 homoW-
behold the man!
But I must also draw from this sub
ject that he was a God. Suppose that a
man should attempt to break up a fu-
neral obscquy. 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 q mere mortal, would
he have a right to come in upon such
procession? Would he have succeeded in
his interruption: He was more than
man, for when he cried out, Il say unto
thee, arisel" he that was dead sat up.
What excitement there must have been
thereabout The body had lain pros
trate. 1t had been mournod over with
agonizing tears, and yet now it begins
TO move in the shroud and to DO 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 Godl l
hear it in his voice see it in the fash
of his eye; behold it in the swapping
of deaths shac6les; I see it in the face
Of the rising slumberor; / hear it in the
outcrv Of all those who were spectators
Of the scene If, when l see my Lord
Jesus Christ mourning with the be-
reaved, l put my hands on his shoulders
and say, MY brother, now that 1 hear
him proclaim supernatural deliverances,
look up into his face and say with
Thomas my Lord and my God" Do
you not think he was q God? A great
many people do not believe that, and
they compromise the matter, or they
think they compromise it. They say ne
was a very good man, but he was not
God. That is impossible Hewas either
O God or a wretch, and l will prove it
If a man processes to be that which he
is not. what is he: He is a liar, an i'm
poster, hypocfite. That is your unsn-
! imous verdict Now, Christ protested
to be a God. He said over and over
again he was God, took the attributes
of God and assumed the works and
Offices Of q God. Dare you now say he
was not? he WAS God, or he was
wretch Choose ye.
Do you think l cannot prove by This
Bible that be was q God? If you do not
believe this Bible, of course there is no
need Of my talking to you. There is no
common data from which 10 stArt Sup
pose you do believe it. Then l can
demonstrate that he was divine / can
prove he was Creator, John 1, 3, "All
things were made by him, and without
him was not anything made that was
made" He was eternal, Revelation
xii. IS, Il am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, the first and the
last. " can prove that he was omnipo-
tent Hebrews ], 10, Tho heavens are
the work Of thine hands. " / can prove
he was omniscicnt John. Ii, 20, He
knew what was in man" Oh, yes, he
Is a God. He cleft the sea He upheaved
the crystalline walls along which the
Israelites marched. He planted the
mountains. He raises mp governments
and casts down thrones and marches
across nations and across worlds and
across the universe, eternal, omnipo'
tent, unhinaered and unabashed That
hand that was nailed to the cross holds
the stars in a leash Of love That head
that dropped on the bosom IN Painting
and death shall make the world quake
at it, nod. That voice that groaned in
the last pang shall swear before the
trembling world that time shall be no
longer Oh, do not insult the common
sense Of the race by telling US that this
person was only man in whose pres
ence the paralytic arm was thrust out
well. and the devils crouched, and the
lepers dropped their scales, and the
tempests folded their wings, and the
bows satchel of q few loayes made q
banquet for 5000, and the sad process
sion of my text broke up in congratula-
ton and hosannai
Again, learn from this subject that
Christ was a sympathizer Mark you,
this was q city funeral In the country,
when the bell tolls, they know all about
it for five miles around, and they know
what was the matter with the man,
how old he was and what were his last
experiences They know with what
temporal prospects he has left his fam
lily. There is no haste there is no indie
ceucy in the obsequies There is moth
| ing done as a mere matter of business