The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1903-01-08
ia SERMON FOR SUNDAY
IAN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
.STONlNC JESUS"

The Rev. DR.. j. Wilbur Chapman Pleads
For = Fair Consideration of the Claims
Of the Religion Of Cbrist-AnythinG Is
Better Than Being Indifferent.
New York City.-The following sermon
entitled, "Stoning Jesus, was preached
Wilbur Chapman, from the text: Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone
Him." John X: 81
The shining OF the sun produces two
effects if the world, one exactly the OPP
posite of the other. In one place 1T en-
livens, beauties and strengthens; in the
others it deadens, mars and decays SO
it is with the Gospel of Christ. 1t is unto
some "savor of life unto life" unto 9th
ers 1T is "a SAVIOR of death unto death.
So it was with the coming of Christ into
the world. He brought to light the truest
affection and the deepest hatred. Men
loved darkness rather than light, so
Christ's coming into the world could only
disturb them.
If you go into the woods on a summers
day, and if it be possible, turn over one
of the logs which may be near to you.
you will find underneath hundreds OF
little insects; the moment the light strikes
them they run in every direction. Dark
ness is their life; they hate the light. But
if you Journey little further and lift
stone, which for little time has been
covering the grass or the little flowers, the
moment you would lift the obstruction
these things would begin to grow. The
light is their life; they die in the dark
ness.
Christ's coming into the world pro-
voked the bitterest prejudice and called
forth the deepest devotion. Simeon, a
devout man, was in the temple when the
young child Jesus was brought in, and he
took Him up in his hands and blessed God,
and said, "Lord, lettest now Thy servant
depart in peace, according to Thy word,
! nr. now my eyes have seen Thy saliva
tion.'a. 1t was just the opposite with
Herod. When the king heard concerning
Jesus he sent Ihhs wise Icen that he might
and when they did not return, he was ex-
ceedlng wroth, and sent forth and slew
all the children that were in Bethlehem
and in all the coast thereof two years and
under, according to the time which he had
diligently inquired of the wise men. These
| are the two extremes.
Johns gospel is the gospel of love, but
in it we find the same great differences.
| Where can you find such sweetness as is
| contained in these words-"For God so
loved the world that He gave His only
! begotten Son, that whosever believeth in
Him should not perish but have everlast-
ing life?" Where is there such tenderness
Only two words, and yet on them the
Borrowing world rests, taking comfort and
consolation! But where can you find such
hatred as expressed in John viii: SO,
Then took they up stones to cast at
Him" and again in the text, ''Then the
When you remember whom they were
| stoning, the Son of Man and the Son of
God, the One who was going about doing
good, the sin is something awful to think
about. This text and the verse that fol-
lows is beautiful illustration of hate and
love, brutality and tenderness. He had
just said. 81 and my Father are one"
words which should have made the hearts
of the people leap for joy; that He was
one with jehovah, who had led their fore
fathers from Egypt to Caanan; who had
spoken the worlds into existence; had
held the winds in His fists; in whose
hands the seas washed to and fro. You
would have thought at these expressions
of the Master every knee would have been
bowed in loving devotion; but not so.
The Jews took up the stones again with
which to stone Him, and He gave them
one of the tenderest answers His heart
could dictate-"Many good works have /
shown you from NY Father, for which of
these do you stone Me-"
! The text is an illustration of the fact
| that those who were models in fairness
| of their treatment of men are most unfair
in their treatment Of Jesus Christ. If
you are familiar with the mode of stoning
offenders in the early days, you, will be
able to see how true this was of the Jews.
The crier marched before the man who
was to die, proclaiming the mans sins and
| the name of the witnesses appearing
against him. This was for the humane
purpose. of enabling any one who was &C
qualnted with the circumstances in the
case to go forward and speak. for him,
l no ha
| evidence was given. But the Jews were
not so considerate of Jesus; when He
! said, 81 and My Father are one," imme-
diately they began to stone Him.
All that is asked for our religion, for
Christ and fol-. the Bible is just fair
we claim, is the word of God, not because
it is old only, but because it is both old
and true. 1t seems as if it were written
for us as individuals; it is my present an
swer to my present need. We simply
present the Book in evidence. Suppose
you try to find it's equal; suppose you try
to produce it's simplest parable; failure
would be the result Our religion is the
same; we only ask for it fair considera-
ton: For Christ it is just the same. In
| England not long ago woman was lee
turing, against our religion, and after she
II would like to ask the lecturer this one
question: Thirty. years ago was the curse
Of this town and everybody in it. I tried
| to do better and failed. The teetotaler
got hold of me, and / signed the pledge
and broke it. The police took me and
| sent me to prison, and the wardens tried
/ to make me better, and [ began to drink
| as soon as left my cell. When all had
! failed, I took Christ as my Savior, and
He made a new man of me. am mem
Der of the church. class-eader and su-
perintendent of the Sunday school If
Christ is myth and religion is untrue,
how could be SO helped by them?"
Men are still stoning Jesus Christ. Per-
| haps you shrink from the conduct of the
Jews and cry, ''For shame!" but there is a
worse way to stone Him than that. Men
can hurt you far more than by striking
you in the face or beating you with
stripes. Do you imagine that Christ's
worst suffering was when they cast stones
at Him, or scourged Him, or put nails
| through His hands? / am sure not but it
i was rather when He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not: when
they called Him s'this fellow" when He
was in Gethsemane in an agony; when He
was on the cross and He felt so forsaken
that His heart broke
If He were here to-day in the flesh as
/ He ia in the Shirt r an crro +boro ORC