The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-07-08

Following is a verbatim report of a
| very able sermon preached by Rev. H.
| w. Peck of the First NJ. E. Church to
the graduating class of 1896, Oahu Col
lege, at Central Union Church.
(Conclusion)
will now speak of Christ Jesus as
mediator and the ideal man. | wish to
show you that he is worthy of all your
life's energy and worship. Let us ex-
anime what the Bible says of him and
see if it be consistent with his claims.
If he be God he must have God-like
qualities. He must come into, live
through and go from this world in no
ordinary way. / look at Jesus Christ's
record as given by the historians, Mat
thew, Mark, Luke, John and the letters
and epistles of men who were eye wit
nesses of his life and death and as
cension / find that his name and mis-
sion was foretold. The name being
given on account of what he was to do.
Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for
he shall save his people from their
sins" 1t is a unique thing, an unheard
of thing before or since, to tell what an
unborn child is to have as his mission.
Let me remind you that today millions
of men will testify that Jesus Christ
does "save his people from their sins"
No amount of talk can affect this great
living testimony to Jesus Christ's
power to save and keep from sin. At
this mans birth it is recorded that
heaven and earth united in a mighty
hallelujah chorus-a jubilee of joy at
his coming.
During his life he not only claimed
but it is recorded that he exercised
God-like power over earth, air, sea,
and made the powers of disease and
death give place The end of his life
was strictly in keeping with his birth
and recorded words and acts. He burst
the bonds of death and ascended tri-
umphant to his native place, drawn
thither by his inherent gravitation. II
he were not God, then there was a
subtlety of deception in the simple, un-
vanished tale of his life and work
never equalled by man. 1t is simply
preposterous that men uneducated, ex-
cept Paul, men of unsurpassed moral
worth and innocency, should be guilty
of such deception and make martyrs of
themselves to prove a lie.
Christianity never shrinks here.
the tomb, he could be no Savior for
men. why seek ye the living among
the dead? He is not here, he has risen
Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee" Of the
fact of his having lived and been put
to death, Roman history as well as
the Bible history attests. The evidence
of his resurrection and ascension is
abundant. The Church of today is di-
rectly traceable back to him, and has
always rested it's whole fabric upon
the resurrection of "the man Christ
Jesus" Says the Apostle Paul: eff
Christ be not risen then is our preach
ing vain, and your faith is also vain
He tells us again that 'if Christ be not
raised your faith is vain; We are yet in
your sins" Let me say in passing that
PaulS writings (his writings admitted
to be so by such school of thought as
that of Ferdinand Christian Bauer)
give overwhelming evidence of being
the work of a thoroughly educated,
keen, logical mind, not to be duped by
a thousand, let alone twelve, Galilean
fishermen. Saul, afterwards Paul, be-
came follower of Jesus Christ within
a couple of years of Christ's death,
resurrection and ascension. On every
side could be had abundance of proof
to expose the deception had there been
one. Then, too, Paul wrote about four
teen years after, that even then most
of the 500 persons who saw, talked
with and handled the resurrected Christ
were still alive. These men had no the
or1es to believe, nothing to imagine