The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-21
THE MISSION OF CHRIST
SERMON AT HOPE CHURCH BY REV.
 J. 4. ELDER,

The Reasons for Christs Coming to Earth
 His Life Not the Result of His Environ
 ment-What He Brings Into the World.
 At the Hope Baptist church yester- day morning the pastor Rev. Joseph A. Elder, preached an eloquent Christ mas sermon from Luke it, 34 and 35
 He spoke in part as follows:
 The babe of Bethlehem, the Christ of Christianity, the Christ of history, the Christ of the future and of to-day and of all eternity is by far the most glorious parsonage in history. We speak of Him as the babe; the babe of Bethlehem, and His birth is being eel ebrated all over the world at the pres ent tme. I am impressed first of all by the fact that Christ Jesus is the great forethought of God. Just as soon as God planned this world and the ex- istence of man upon it, then He fore ordained Christ as the saviour of man. kind.
 Tt will not do to say that Christ was a genius; that He was a product of His time, the same as Napoleon was 8 product of the French revolution. I find nothing of such an environment to produce Christ. Jesus came into the world; He did not come from the world, but into it. Christ Himself said you are of this world but am from above; and He never abated one jot or title from His claim to His heavenly title. And so we have a right to rejoice in the perfect Christi the teacher the saviour, who loves us and saves us. In the second place Jesus Is the source of truth itself. Not the authority of the truth, but the truth itself. There are many philosophers, scientists and others to-day who speak the truth, but who are not the authority of truth. Now Christ is the source of the author ity of truth itself. And we can rest in Him, and He will place our feet on a rock and there is no danger of our sinking the way Peter did on the angry sea. If the men who spoke about Je- sus did not speak the truth. then there are no men whom you can believe.
 '1n the third place, I recognize the fact that Jesus was the great disturber of the world. His coming was for this world, but the old world must pass away before all things can become new
 There is a grander statesman than any of those who are now planning for the welfare of nations, and that is Christ.
 Christ came to disturb the con- sciences of men; also to quicken into new life, out of the old hardness Oh, what a grand thing it is that this leth- | argy of death can be disturbed?
 Tn the fourth place l recognize the fact that Christ came as the world S | benefactor; not only did He come with | the rod of iron. but also that He might bind up and heal and this seems to me to be the best Christmas tribute which can be brought to Jesus.
 He came to bring peace to the poor and wretched of this world. We work no more bodily healing, but we do work spiritual healing by our work and the church by it's work
 l And thus Christ gave his life for our happiness that We might have the life for eternity. We need not be so care l ful for this life, if we can be sure of i the life to come. Let us flee along the road of life as Christian did in Pill grim's Progress. crying, Life, Life. | Eternal life!'"