The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-07-12
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. c. E. JEFFERSON.
Subject: Wanted: A New Vision OF God.

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Broadway Tabernacle the pastor, the
Rev. Charles Edward Jefferson. D. D..
Oh Sunday preached the following ser
non entitled, Wanted: 4 New Vision
OF Cod"
The great word on the lips of the
coming preacher will be God" The
name which is above every name has
been too much neglected in these re-
cent years, even by the men apoiEted
to proclaim it.
There have been reasons for this neg
lect. The evolutionary philosophy
awakened a new and thrilling interest
in man. Whence he came, how he
started. what have been the processes
of his climbing, these are the questions
which have bewitched and absorbed US
all. The phenomenal achievements of
the last half century have worked to-
ward the same result. Never has man
been so wonderful as now, never he's
he done such mighty deeds. He is a
miracle worker who says each evening,
Il viii do greater things tomorrow"
His prowess, cunning and mastery are
astounding, and to chant his praises
l4s USSll Jul p1Sl1lhC III oSllSAIs
The miseries Of man have also con-
spired to fix our attention on him. He
has come from the country to the city
and he is in trouble. He has become
the victim of all sorts of economic and
social forces, which have left him
lying bleeding and half dead by the
side of the road along which the
strong have driven furiously to wealth
and pow ar. To lift the man who is
down and place him on our beast and
get him into the nearest inn is q prob
lem of vast dimensions, and has taken
q deal of our thought and time.
We have Leen caught in the COM
pick of secondary causes. and have lit
tie inclination to consider the Cause
which underlies them all. To many
minds Gods presence has become dim,
His personality vague and doubtful.
His holiness has been by many quite
forgotten. In admiring or plying the
creature we have gotten U eyes off
the Creator. Our first duty is the step
OF the prodigal, Il will arise and go
back to my father"
The prophet Of the coming days is
going to say in the words of u of
old, II have yet somewhat to say on
Gods behalf" Mans cause has been
pleaded e%loqnently and long, and the
time has arrived for the forthputting
Of tile claims of Gc1. Beginning at
the earth always ends in Babel, be-
ginning at the throne of God leads to
PeItecoSt.
We are coming back to the old evan
gelism of the apostles. Wherever Paul
went Lis message was, I'VE pray you
in Christ's steal, be ye reconciled to
God" Simon Peter net the uproar
in the streets of Jerusalem on the Day
of P%entecost with q great Gee aration
of God-"I will pour out Of My spirit
upon all flesh; and from first to last
it was upon what God had done in
Christ that he based his passionate ex.
hortation to repentance.
All deep-eyed men are seeing with
increasing clearness that it is not by
ecclesiastical might or political power.
but by the epiri. Of Jehovah that the
mountains Of %iniquity are to be leveled
and the rough places made smooth.
The evangelism of the coming days
Will De2ln VIII GOQ.
Three doctrines will be counted car-
dinal. In the forefront will be placed
the sovereignty of God. If the Puri-
tan passion has died out Of our blood
it is because the Puritan conception
of God has faded out of our hearts.
What we need to see to-day is a throne
with God on it. Democracy has made
havoc with our ideas of authority,
and the result is a fabbiness of reSpon-
sibility and a laxness of conduct which
unless coun~teracted, will lead to our
ruin. The pessimism and hopeless
ness so prevalent to-day, even among
protesting Christians are the direct
result Of a failure to grasp the funda-
mental doctrine of Gods omnipotence.
Along with the doctrine Of Gods
sovereignty will 60 the doctrine Of
His immanence. 1t is an old doctrine
couched in fresh ~phraseology and with
new light shot through it by modern
science. The doctrine is written large
across the pages Of Scripture, and in
every land and time the saints have
known that God dwells n the hearts
of men. In Him We live and move
and have our being, as the apostle
long ago declared. And centuries be-
fore Paul's day a Hebrew poet thrilled
by the thought of Gods competence
wrote the 10th Psalm.
That God is above all and through
all, and in. I'll, and that of Him and
through Him and to Him are all
things is one of the commenplaces of
the Bible; and whether we use the old
phrase, "the indwelling God," or the
phrase now most popular, "the imma-
nent Co.." the thought needs to be
emphasized and wrought into the con-
sciousness of the Christians of our day
that God is in His world and dwells
in special fulness in the>hearts Of those
who love and serve Him.
NOR will the holiness Of God be for
gotten. The decadence Of the sense
Of sin has been caused by the blur
ring Of the doctrine of Gods holiness.
Holy Father Us the title by which
Jesus knew God, and it is thus that
we must know Him if it is to be we'll
with our souls. The forms in which
retribution was often preached in pre-
ceding generations were so grotesque
and arbitrary that some of us have
been ashamed to say it right out clear
and strong, that God pun shes men
for heir siIs. In the coming day we
are going to believe again that whatso-
ever 4 man soveth that shall he also
reap. that without holiness no man can
see the Lord, that there is no peace
unto the wicked, that the soul that sin
meth dies in the act Of its SHINING, and
that God is calling upon men every
where to repent.
No mai Acquainted with the teach
ins Of the latest science need be
ashamed OF afraid to preach the most
rigorous doctrine Of retribution. "You