The Bossier banner., 1894-10-04

| Sailor ever Slept IN ShlpS 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; 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 just as
you go into a cottage. He breathed hard
when He was tired just as you do when
you are exhausted. He felt tired after
| sleeping out night in the storm, just
like you do when you have been ex-
posed to tempest. 1t was just as hui
initiating for Him to beg bread as it
would be for you to become pau
per. He felt just as much insulted
by being sold for thirty pieces
of silver as you would be 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
angles; He took on Him the seed of
Abraham. ''Ecce homor-Behold the
| man!
| But | must also draw from this sub
| ject that He was a 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
! before 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: "I say unto thee,
arisen He that was dead sat
up" What excitement there must
have been thereabouts. The body had
| lain PROSTATE. 1t had been mourned
over with agonizing tears, and yet now
| it begins to move in the shroud, and to
be flushed with life; and, at the COM
mand of Christ, he rises up and looks
into the faces of the astonished specta-
tors. Oh, this was the work of God!
| / hear it in His voice; l see it in the
| flash of His eye; l behold it in the snap
| ping of the deaths shakels; l see it in
| the face of the rising slumberer; hear
in the outcry of all those who were spec
tatOrs of the scene. If, when see my
Lord Jesus Christ mourning with the be-
reaved, l put my hand on His shoulder,
and say, ''My brother" now that l
hear Him proclaim supernatural de-
| liverances, | look up into His face and
say with Thomas: my Lord and my
God" Do you not think He was
God? A great many people do not be-
lieve that, and they compromise the
matter, or they think they compro-
mise it. They say He was a
very good man, but He was
not God. That is impossible.
He was either a God or wretch, and
| will prove it. If man processes to be
that which he is not, what is he? He
is liar, and impostor, a hypocrite.
That is your unanimous verdict. Now,
Christ professed to be a God. He said
over and over again He was God, took
the works and offices of a God. Dare
you now say He was not? He was a
God, or was He wretch.
Do you think that can not prove by
| this Bible that He was 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
to start. Suppose you do believe it?
| Then l can demonstrate thatvHe was
Divine. 1 can prove He was Creator,
John i, 8: ''All things were made by
| Him; and without Him was not any
thing made that was made" He was
eternal, Rev. xxi, IS: Il am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the
end, the first and the last" / can
prove that He was omnipotent, Heb.
i, 10, ''The heavens are the work of
Thine hands" | can prove He was
omniscient, John ii, 25: "He knew what
was in man." Oh, yes, he is a God.
He cleft the sea. He upheaved the
crystalline walls along which the Is
raelites marched He planted the
mountains He raises up govern
ments and cast down thrones, and
marches across nations and across
/
eternal, omnipotent, unhindered,
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 fainting and death
shall make the world quake at its nod.
That voice that groaned in the last
pang shall swear before the trembling
world that time shall be nolonger 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
boys satchel of few loaves made a
banquet for five thousand, and the sac
procession of my text broke up in con
graduation and hosanna!
Again, learn from this subject thai
Christ was a sympathizer. Mark you
this was city funeral. In the coun
try, when the bells toll. they know al
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 will
l. 1zf