The Penn's Grove record., 1903-01-02
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
sSToNlNc JESUS"
The Rev. DIR. j. Wilbur Chapman Pleads
For a Fair Consideration of the Claims
of the Religion of Cbrist-Anything il
Better Than Reiug TrdiffSrepf

VI lhL
of the Religion of Cbrist-Anything is
Better Than Being Indifferent.
New York City.-The following sermon
entitled, ".Stoning Jesus" was preached
by the great evangelist, the Rev. DR.. j..
the Jews took up stones again to stone
Him" John x: 81.
The shining of the sun produces two
effects IN the world, one exactly the OBJ
posite of the other. In one place it en-
hvens, beauties and strengthens; in the
others it deadens, mars and decays. So
it Is with the Gospel of Christ. 1t is unto
some a "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 a little further and lift a
stone. which for a 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,
for now my eyes have seen Thy saliva
ton" It was just the opposite with
Herod: When the king heard concerning
Jesus he sent the wise men that he might
find out through them where He was,
ceeding wroth, andl 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 be 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 e~verlast.
ing life?" Where is there such tenderness
as In this representations wept?"
Only two words, and yet on them the
sorrowlng 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
Hlm!" n again in the text, "Then the
Jews took up stones again to stone Him?'
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 a beautiful illustration of hate and
love, brutality and tenderness. He had
just said, Il 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 Canaan; 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 nave 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
shown you from Nv 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. Ii
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 ac-
quainted with the circumstance in the
case to go forward and speak for him,
and the prisoner was held until the new
evidence was given. But the Jews were
not SO considerate Of Jesus; when He
said, IT and My Father are one" imme-
diately they began to stone Him.
All that is asked for our religion, for
Christ and for the Bible is just a fair
consideration of their claims. The Bible,
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 its equal; p you try
to produce its simplest parable; failure
would be the result. Our religion is the
same; we only ask for it a fair considera-
ton. For Christ it is just the same. In
England not long ago a woman was lee
ny dSd1hot Jul tClSiOA, duQ dllCl cuS
had closed, one of the m~ill-hands said,
II would like to ask the lecturer this one
question: Thirty years ago ] was the curse
of this town and everybody in it. / tried
to do better and failed. The teetotaler
got hold of me, and I signed the pledge
and broke it. The police took me and
sent me to prison, and the wardens tried
to make me better, and I began to drink
as soon as I left my cell. When all had
fo,IoI 44o1r fln,-t 80 xn- So-r0- a4H
He made a new man of me. l am a mem
Der of the church, a class-leader and SUI
perintendent of the Sunday-school. If
Christ is a myth and religion is untrue,
how could I 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 han that. Men
can hurt you far more than by striking
you in the face or beating you with
stripes. Do you imagine that Christ $
worst suffering was when they cast stones
at Him, or scourged Him, or put nails
through His hands? I am sure not. but it
was rather when He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not; when
they called Him "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.
Ii llc were iISlc IO-Qdy HI Tic nCSu as
He is in the Spirit. / am sure there are
ways we could hurt Him more thar by
taking up stones from the very streets
and casting them in His blessed face until
His eyes were blinded by the blood drops
falling down.
INCONSISTENCY
I. Have you ever noticed the sadness
which throbbed in the words of our
Savior at the Last Supper, Zone of you
shall betray me ?" or when He was walk
ing with them toward the garden, "Ali
Of you shall be offended this night be-
cause of Me%? or when He was in the
garden and we hear Him saying: "What,
could you not watch with Me one hour?"
The stone that hurts Christ most is not the
one that is cast by the unbelieving world;
He expects that; it is the one that is
cast by His own people, and there is only
one stone that they can cast at Him, and
that is the one Of inconsistency to talk
one way and live another, confessing with
the lips and denying in the walk. You
never took a step in the wrong direction
hut it was a stone cast at Christ. / have
heard of a young lady who was engaged
in the greatest amount OF pleasure and
frivolity, nearly forgetful of her loyalty
to Christ. One day being asked by her
companions to go to a certain place: she
refused on .he ground that it was Com
munion Sunday in the church. In amaze
ment her friends asked her, "Are you a
communicate If the world does not