Democratic messenger., 1904-02-06
VITAL UNION WITH CHRIST
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon BY Rev. O.
D Case, Ph.D.
Tells How The Sen Of God Within Us Becomes
the Source of Divine Cempaaionshp


following brilliant sermon, which he en-
titled Vital Union With Christ The
text was chosen from Galatians ii:20: II
am erucited with Christ and l no longer
1--we, but Christ iiveth in me, and the fife
which i now live / live by faith in the
Son Of God who loved me and gave Him.
self to die for me Dr. Case said
The highest conception OF the Christian
lille which this generation seems to have
accepted Is TO be found in the words, Fol
low Me-, as uttered by Christ. Ii is
thoroughly Biblical. Jesus SAYS to Philip.
az the beginning OF His ministry, Follow
Me-; He tells the four on the sands oil
Galilee, Come We after Me-" He COM
mands the taxgathercr in his office. Fol
/ Me-" He presents the same standard
10 the rich young man who loved his
money better than life. Follow Me-" Now
the resurrection has passed and what shall
I've the new conception tor the disciples
OF the new life. IL Is still the same, aud
Christ proc!aims TO the same disciples at
the same Place on Oia.ilee, Follow thou
Me-"
The grand and infinitely simple way OF
looking at the Christian lie had been lost.
He was the true Christian who believed
what the church told HIM and accepted
its appointed means OF grace. But now
after these centuries Chrlsiendom has re-
covered this idea and made it the very cen
tie and core of the Christian life Mr..
Henry Richards. on the Congo. reads to
the natives the words OF Christ, Give 10
MIN that asketh OF thee: and OF him that
taketh away thy goods ask them not
again." and then proceeds TO practice
them, with the result that the natives
first beg and then return and then ask
for the way OF life. Mr.. w. I. Stead,
while in his London Jail. wonders what he
shall write TO the girl whom he has sue:
ceeded in placing in a Christian home, and
at last, by fash OF insight, writes her,
BE a Christ.' Charles VI. sheldon p-:.
sents as the ideal OF every life. to act =
Christ would act ii lie were here in our
place.
What is the trouble with this concep-
tion: This, that II represents the states
but not the dynamics OF the Christian life.
Il tells US what 10 be like, but does not
tell US how we shall become like our ideal.
kant thought that the same man who OF
deliberate choice accepted evil could with
the same deliberate choice and by simple
viii accept good when he saw it. This il
fine philosophy, but poor religion. Il
does not explain Cough. McAuley. Hadley.
1t gives US the ideal, but not the power 10
embody the ideal
Listen 10 this statement and see il you
of following Christ: Religion cannot
be said 20 have made a bad choice in
pitching upon this man as the ideal repre-
sentative and guide of humanity; nor even
now would IL be easy even Tor an unhe-
lever to find a better translation OF the
rule of virtue from the abstract into the
concrete than to endeavor 50 to live that
Christ could approve OF our hie. And
yet II was no less person than j. :. Mil,
an unbeliever. who wrote this.
The text of the morning presents the
needed complimentary conception. He
who Is presented as an objective ideal be-
comes a subjective presence and power.
He who said, "As Thou hast sent Me into
the world, even 50 have l sent them into
the world" says with the Go" the 10.
j am with you all the days"
The Bible represents this union in dif-
ferent ways. Now il is that of the foun-
dation and the superstructurc signifying
support; now the body and head, meaning
direction: now of the husband and wife,
representing union; now OF the vine and
branch, signifying the communication of
life; and finally. most tenderiy and mys-
teriously, OF the re.ation between the
Father and Son. In whatever way it is
spoken OF It Is evidently an essential phase
of the Christian life.
DIR. A. j. Gordon once saw what he
called a parable of nature up in part
OF New England where he spent his sum
mer holidays. IL was an example of nat
ural grating. Two little sap.ings grew
up side by side. Through the action OF
the wind the bark OF each became wound
ed, the sap began to mingle and at last
ON a still day they We're firmly compacted.
Then the stronger began to absorb the life
OF the weaker. IL grew larger and larger
while the other grew smaller and smaller;
then began to wither and decline till finally
it dropped away and disappeared. Now,
there are two trunks At the bottom and
only one at the top. Death has taken
away the one: lic has triumphed in the
other. The illustration thus given by DR.
Gordon only fails in not giving sufficient
importance to the words Il live" of the
text. The religious lie is not self-immola
tfon, but se.f-realization. 1t is not absorp-
tion, but application.
Without thinking Tor the present OF the
unyarying condition OF this life. "cruci
tixioa with Christ or the motive OF such
living, Christ loved us and died for US"
or the means OF such living, faith IN the
Son OF God" let us think more at length
of the single sublime thought, our union
with Christ and its bearings upon the dif
ferent phases of the Christian life. This
we must for the present emphasize If We
are 10 have pure evangelical Christianity
which shall move the world.
First, note that Christ within us is the
source OF true divine companionship.
The appearance OF Christ after the rrs-
first was to convince the disciples :hat
Christ was truly alive. or. in other words
TO connect the past Christ with the pres
eht Christ. The angels had assured them
ln1t Jesus MOu.u 20 INTO hautee tnere
10 meet them. As soon as faith had ac-
cepted these words OF both Christ and the
angels the disciples would leave .Ierusa
lem: but this did not take place until after
a week.
The second definite object of Christ's
appearances was 10 teach the disciples the
spiritual nature OF the kingdom. or. in
other words, to conneck the present Christ
with the future Christ. Among such
teachings are the words, Follow Me-"
spoken TO the seven in Galilee: the prom
;se To all, 10. 1 am with you all the days"
and the command that they should not
depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the
promise OF the Father, which. He said. We
have heard OF Me-" A glance back into
the fourteenth chapter OF John shows
what this promise WAS. The sixteenth
verse gays: II will pray the Father and
He shall give you another comforter. that
He may abide with yon forever" But oi
whose presence is the Spirit the embod
ment? The eighteenth verse says: Il will
not leave you comfortless; ] will come &c
you" Then the twentieth assures the
disciples: AT that day We shall know
that am IN My Father, and We IN Me and
/ in you" Thus Christs objective com
panionship becomes Il subjective fellow
ship.
How closely can two peop.e. heart to
heart, be together: There Is always the
veil OF the flesh between. All we can do is
10 interpret looks, words, and sometimes
our ludgme:,s Is wrong even on those near
est to us. We all walk a solitary way. Few
reach that beautiful. companionship repre-
sented by Browning in by tine Fires:de:h
e I t..G