The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-10-06
He Taught as One Having
Authority
Sermon by the Late Rev. Robert A. Lee.


authority the scribes St Matt vll - and ~
This is criticism of the sermon the mount 1t is
comment not merely upon the sermons Dut also upon
the preacher 1t tells that the preacher sPake with a
thory and not the scrlbes these WORDS are not quo
ted as having been actually uttered by any one But they
are recorded by ST. Mathew rather as summing up the I'M
preston that Christs teaching made While, then not
quoted as the words any all probability this, or
similar language used by the people IN thelr dscuS
sons and comments upon the discourse that had just
closed And there to be in this opinion and declar
alton as regards the scbes half concealed sarcasm and
thrust Christ spake having authority and not as
the scribes Now the scribes had external authority
They the established and reputable teachers OF the
nation hey sat in Moses seat They were the educated
and cultured Glass; they had lacked facilities and oPpor
tunties for learning They had then all the prestige and
authority that belong to high position and recognized at
tainments On the contrary Christ had none OF these ad
vantaees He was not member of the class who had
culture and leisure. His fe until He was thirty years OF
age had been in daily TOLL as we may welf suppose and
spent too in the midst of the rude and conditions
of Nazareth Christ not graduate OF the schools OF
His time He had not been pupil OF any OF the great
Rabbis of his age ST. Paul was afterwards Such then
were the relative positions and advantages OF christ and
the scrbes How ronca and cutting then, the comment
that Chrst spake having authority and not as the
scrbes" Christ Who without the influence that be-
longs high place. and established reputation yet spake
with authority the scribes sat in Moses seat and yet
their teaching without weight and influence
Christ, then. taught having authority. He
He taught so carry conviction to the hearts OF men,
There was force and cogency about Chrs words that
peaed to They struck throug PreJudces and pre-
possessions and found odgment in the hearts OF men,
WHY was this What the source of that authority
with which Christ spake? not merely that He spake
truth He did speak TRUTH greater too and more lofty
than any before Him. But this is not sufficient ex
PLANTATION of the influence which Christ teaching had
MANY men have spoken truth; but their teaching was ut
tey lacking the force and effectiveness that belonged
what Christ said Christ spake with authority because He
spake of the ulness and reality OF his experience
His instructions to the people had influence and met with
acceptance because theory with Him. Christ IN the SER
mon on the mount and in His other dscourses not
repeating something He had heard He was not giving
something that He had read and treasured up IN HIS
memory. He declaring to the people what he had
found true His experience In His dlscouses, then
Christ impaired not the results of theory pecu
laton but the fruit and wisdom of his own llte In HIS
teaching Christ gave to men part OF Himself impaired
them portion of His own life. Now we know that
life the one thing in this world that touch life and
affect life And so Chrsts teaching which the fruit
and product of His Being did meet response in the
hearts of men, did touch and change them 1t was with
authority So it that when Christ said: BLESSED are
they which do hunger and thirst after Righteousness tori
they shall be filed feel that these the words of
One who had made Righteousness and holiness the chet
ends of His lfe they come from Him Who increased IN
wisdom and in favor with God; the words OF One Who
as life developed and advanced had found that His hunge
for righteousness unsated that His hunger for
righteousness, life advanced ever widening was yet
ever more and filled and satisfied "They that hum
ger and thirst after righteousness shall be flled That
touches because is le-a fragment from great fe
and great experience. And likewise when Christ says
blessed are the pure heart for they shall see God,
men, the world over, and all the ages have sened be-
cause they feel that here is One Who has kept Himself
pure and Whom because of His purity there has come
the vision and revelation of God The pure in heart shall
see God We feel that is because Christ found it true
And of the Joy and funess of that vision of God which
He had Christ tells what blessed thing purity
is. And too when Christ exhots pray always, and
Who has found that persistence and importantly in prayer
do bring This voice to from life OF
prayer and it finds echo in hearts. Christ we
know often aside into the mountain, and there spent
the whole night in prayer to God, and He has come
back tell that such importantly divine and bles
sed thing Pray, and not faint" That is fragment from
the life and experience of Him Of whom it written; "ln
the days of His flesh he offered up prayers and supplca
tons with strong crying and tears and heard in that
he feared.'
And so Christ's message authoritative And His
message merely His words, but all that He did
Chrsts message and teaching His e-al that He said
and all that He did, And that about all His ifea
of His actions and sayng-of tested and proven truth
All that He said and did influential and found accept
with men, because it felt to be the result and
fruit of His experience experience that was broad
and Deep and full and rich And the last analysis the
influence and authority that belong to Christie His say
ings and doings-gew out Of His experiences owing
to His broad and full and rich life Christ is blessing,
benehcent influence and power because of his life
Tho inf oil and Tho tiOr