The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-08-14

AMAhMSAS AWWA" prophet, amid the
REV.. stormy time in
which he lived, put the telescope of
prophecy to his eye and saw, $50 years
ahead, one Jesus advancing to the res
cue. want to show that when Isaiah
called Christ the Wonderful he spoke
wisely.
In most houses there is a picture of
Christ. Sometimes it represents him
with face effeminate; sometimes with
a face despotic. But l am convinced
that 1 shall never know how Jesus
looked until, on that sweet Sabbath
morning, 1 shall wash the last sleep
from my eyes in the cool river of
Heaven. / take up this book of divine
photographs and / look at Luke's
sketch, at Marks sketch, at Johns
sketch and at Pauls sketch, and l say,
with Isaiah, "Wonderful"
i think that you are all interested in
the story of Christ. You feel that He
is the only one who a help you.
You have unbounded ambition for the
commander who helped his passengers
ashore while he himself persisted, but
have you no admiration for Him who
rescued our souls, Himself falling back
into the waters from which He had
saved us?
Christ was wonderful in the magnet
ism of His person.
After the battle of Antietam, when.a
general rode along the lines, although
the soldiers were lying down ex-
hausted, they rose with great enthu-
siasm and huzzaed. As Napoleon re-
turned from his captivity, his first
step on the wharf shook all the king
49, - OEn mo -.o- sos-ol Asee3a-l-
ard. 1t took 5000 troops to watch him
in his exile. So there have been men
of wonderful magnetism of person.
But hear me while | tell you of a poor
young man who came from Nazareth
to produce a thrill such as has never
been excited by any other. Napoleon
had around him the memories of Au-
sterlitz and Jena, and Badajos; but
here was a man who had fought no
battles; who wore no epaulettes; who
brandished no sword. He is no titled
man of the schools, for He never went
to school. He had probably seen
a prince, orshaken hands with a noble
man. The only extraordinary person
we know of as being in His company
was His own mother, and h vas SO
poor that in the most delicate and
6OlCDlh hOuL anu CNCI COAlCo ~ q
woman's soul she was obliged to lie
down amid camel drivers grooming the
beasts of burden
/ imagine Christ one day standing in
the streets of Jerusalem. A man de-
scended from high lineage is standing
beside Him, and says: MY father
was a merchant prince; he had a castle
on the beach at Galilee. Who was
your father?" Christ so
seph, the carpenter" A man from
Athens is standing there unrolling his
parchment of graduation, and says to
Christ: where did you go to school?"
Christ II never graduated"
Aha, the idea of such an unheralded
young man attempting to command
the attention of the world! As we'll
some little fishing village on Long is
land shore attempt to arraign New
York. Yet no sooner does He set foot
in the towns or cities of Judea than
everything is in ~commotion. The peo-
pie go out on a picnic, taking only
food enough for the day, yet are SO
fascinated with Christ that, at the
risk of starving, they follow Him out
into the wilderness. A nobleman falls
down fla before Him, and says, MY
oduk hlG14 Ia oCa4s n OCkk1A v
rub the dimness from his eyes. and
says Lord, that my eyes may be
opened" A poor, sick, painting woman
pressing through the crowd. says, II
must touch the hem of His garment"
Children, who love their mother better
than any one else, struggle to
get into His arms. and to kiss His
cheek. and to run their fingers through
His hair, and for all time putting Jesus
so in love with the little ones that
there is hardly o nursery in Christen-
dom from which he does not take one,
saying, II must have them; / will I'LL
Heaven with these; for every cedar
that / plant in heaven l will have so
white lilies. In the hour when l was
a poor man in Judea they were not
ashamed of Ne, and now that l have
come to a throne ! do not despise them.
Hold it not back, oh weeping mother;
lay it on My warm heaPt, OF such is
the kingdom of Heaven"
Jesus was wonderful in the opposites
and seeming antagonisms of His nature
Yon want things logical and consist
ent, and yourssy; How could Christ
be God and map at the same time?"
John says Christ was the Creator: "All
things were made by Him, aud with
out Him was not anything made"
Matthew says that He was omnipres-
emit: "Where two or three are met to<i
getheF In my name. there am ! in the
midst of them" Christ declares His
own eternity; II am Alpha and One
ga" How can He be a lion, under His
foot crushing Kingdoms. and yet lamb
licking the hand that Stays Him7 At
what point do the throne and the man
ger touch? If Christ vas God, why
fee into Egypt? Why not stand His
ground? Why, instead of bearing the
cross, not lift up lis right hand and
bs spat upon? Why sleep on the
moatafBs when He owned the palaces
of eternity Why catch fish for His
breakfast when all the pomegranates
are His, and all the vineyards His, and
all the cattle His, and all the part
ridges His? Why walk when eary,an1
His Eaet s~tone-bruised, when He might
haye taken the ~splendors Of the sun
set for His eqqipage, and moved with
horses and chariots Of FIRE? Why beg
q drink from the wayside, when out Of
tbs crystal chalices of eternity He
poured the Euphrates, the Mississippi
and the ABazOn, and dipping His
hand in the fountains OF Heaven, and
shaking that hand oyer the world,
from the tips of His fingers dripping
the great lakes and the OCEANS? Why
let the Roman regiment put Him to
death, when He might have ridden
down the sky followed by all the cav
SJFY of Heaven, mounted on white
horses of eternal victory? ,
You caBEGt understand. Who can?
Yop try to c~enfsEPd me. | am con-
founded before you speak, Paul said
it was pnsearchable, He went climb
fRg Bp from argument to argument.
and fFo4q qDtithesis to q~ntithesis, and
from glory 10 glory, and then sank
down in exhaustion eS be saw far
above him other heights Of divinity
unscaled, and exclaimed, that in ali
things he might have the pre-emi-
TeRee,"
again Christ was wonderful in His
teaching. The people had been used
to formalities and techniGalities; Christ
upset all their notions as to hoy
preaching ought to be done. There
Was this popularity about His preach
ino. Rha neonla knew what He meant