The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-08-25
Good Friday.
Sermon by the Late Rev. Robert A. Lee.

1t was passion week when our Lord spoke these
words; His earthly life drawing to Close and i'm
mediately before Him His betrayal and death. Upon
several He had spoken of His death and
tion but no one understood Him. MsrePresented and
not understood His three years ministry at first POPULAR
about to close in apparent gloom and failure even
His disciples seem to have had little insight into His mlsslon
little love and sympathy for Him in His great work. And
now in the very presence of DEATH He tor moment turn
ing awav from the present. looks beyond the crafty Phar
sees and brutal mob and passionaey yearnng for hu
mantv stays himself upon that love and devotion which
in all ages man should give Him. And l. if be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me-
Our Lord here intmates the manner OF His DEATH
His being Lifted up was His death upon the Cross as
Gekie says that image of lowest degradation and ex
tremest agony, the very of which Cicero declares
should the thoughts the eyes or ears OF
Roman citizen far less his person. inflicted by heathen-
ism which knew compassion or reverence Tor man
as man. on the criminals highway robbers, rebels
and slaves" Yet all this to be changed one victim,
"a man of sorrows and acquainted with gre was to be
lifted up from the earth in utter gnomny and desutlon
and vet so draw all to Himself that soon in lowy
reverence and adorng love- men should declare that
crucixion should cease draw all men to Himself that
the cross the instrument of His shame and agony should
become the badge of His followers and at last the symbol
of all that pure in morals and true IN religion Today
this cross avorite device in heradry it the symbol
of all that high placed and most noble and the unvers
sal badge of benevolence its shadow falls and guards
the graves of high and of owly it the SUBMITS
of the nobes buildings erected by the genius and pie
ty of man. The world presents no similar instance OF
such revolution of sentiment TO make the striped
clothing of our convcts the symbol for all that purest
and best would be something of the kind but not so
far reaching radical But this changed attitude in
regard to the nothing compared with the internal
and spiritual change OF mind and heart which ndcates
But further when Jesus Christ speaks of His being
Lifted up from the earth, much more is meant than to
describe the of His DEATH is rather the char
acter of that death which is portrayed A true death
though it was there was machess and tranScendent
T T he fted nm from he earth
will draw all men unto me-" Leaving out of view alto
gether the fact of the resurrection and viewing solely the
events of Good Friday who will that Jesus Christ was
not than Conqueror, that His death was not the
most signal and splendid victoy The moral beauty and
spiritual elevation of our Lords passion infinitely surpass
anything besides that know has the art and ge
MUS of the dramatist framed scene that equals It, lhe
two thieves put upon the cross but they were not
.led up" as Tesus Christ We all familiar with
the sorv of Clovis the founder of the French monarchy
When heard the narrative of the Redeemers passion
he exclaimed Had been there with my Franks |
would have avenged His wrongs How utterly lnharmo-
MUS with the occasion and OF Lords trial and
crucxion any such thought To contemplate the
of our Lords passion and then to cherish such sentiment
as that is fail totally in appreciation OF the meaning OF
the WHOLE and of the spirit of Christ to insult HIM
by our compassion. Here, in this supreme moment as
everywhere else, He magnificent Conqueror; and we
who would presume avenge His wrongs stand abashed
as we hear Him say of His murderers "Father forgive
them for they know not what they do"
Again our Lord declares that having been lifted up
from the earth ''He will draw all men unto him. There
is fulmen of this prediction seen in the world to-day
which is very simple and be explained on natural
grounds All men have been drawn to Christ, and rec
ognze in Him the highest point reached IN morality
devotion sefsacrce Jesus Christ the world accepts
as the highest model of humanity Our civilization is
Christian it processes have standard the morality
and humanarianism of Jesus Christ Many only for
the ethics of Jesus Christ for them the gospel the Ser
mon on the Mount and beyond this they do not care to
CO. But text presents to Christ lifted upon the
cross and there drawing all men to HIMSELF and by the
display of machess exataton and power and PERSONAL
itv binding to Himself the heart OF humanity IN all
ages What the secret and the power OF the cross OF
Jesus Christ that has stirred in all men of every age and
cline such devotion 1t is not enough to say that it is
the sef-sacrice of for others, for many Hun
dreds of examples of such sacrifice find in all ages and
they have no such influence upon 1t may be said
further that there this sacrifice infinite conde-
scension of One who infinitely exalted that it was the
sacrifice of the ncarnate Son of God for sinful All
of this is true but too often little to becomes
mere formula for human mind grasp what an in
finite condescension of One infinitely exalted is Now,
the gratitude which feel for favor done the est
nation in which hold gift dependent not merely
on the gift but rather something in the gver in the
love and good intent of the gver We may have received
at some time gift which small and mean and of little
value and yet the whole act transformed and lumina-
ted by the boundess good will and by the overowng and
seforgetg love of the gver SO that abashed and feeling
our unwohness of such love- accept the gilt and
conscious that benedicton has descended upon lives
In he Of this truth something OF that