The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-07-26
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. T. c. McclELlAND.
Subject: What is Christianity?

%: And the same time there occurred
no small stir about that way" DR..
McClelland said:
The name Christianity Is not in the
Bible. Before the religion of Jesus
was nodded into q creed or organized
into q church it was called simply the
| Way. That was the name given it by
its friends and its foes. After Jesus
| died the young men who had been His
| students were asked and they asked
themselves what had Jesus given
them? He had given them wonder
full words, but He had done some
thing more than set them to learn
ing precepts to be repeated par
rot-like. He had formed them into
q circle, but the gift He had left
them was not q society. He had
| given them-not something to believe
nor something to join, not a creed nor
a church, but just 4 way OF living.
And so they called Christianity the
Way.
In q little book called the Acts of
the Apostles we have pen pictures of
the lives of these first Christians, and
these pictures show q likeness in their
Way of living. and tnat Way they had
is marked by four characteristics:
First. The first Christians lived as
servants of Jesus.
Second. Those first Christians lived
by the strength Of God.
Third. Those first Christians lived
In devotion to the common duties.
Fourth. Those first Christians lived
! with men as brothers.
Let us study these four points.
The first Christians had a way of liy-
Ing as servants of Jesus. That is, they
took Jesus word as law. They called
themselves His Slaves" their favor
lite name for Jesus vas Lord that
means simply, master, director, chief.
1t was their passion for Jesus which
won for them their first nickname. The
heather called them Christians" that
is, the party controlled by Christ. This
was not the name they gave them
selves. Their common name for them
selves was The Brothers," But more
than their love for one another, their
subsection to Christ impressed their
pagan neighbors, and so they came to
be called Christians.
Why did they Call Jesus? They had
no theology Of His person. You hunt
the Acts Of the Apostles from begin
ming to end without finding any specu-
lation about the second person Of the
Trinity, or the deity Of Jesus. These
speculations came years after. At first
Jesus was an absolute Master, and He
| was q Master, because though He had
been crucified, He had risen from the
dead. Jesus had passed through death
| into life; they had not expected it, and
in their exuberance over it what was
there to do but to make themselves
| slaves Of the man who had given them
this brand new reality? "He delivered
them, who, through fear of death were
oil their lifetime subject to bondage"
And so they made hat empty grave
q throne and the risen Lord sat upon
it. So the first characteristic Of the
Christian way vast lived in subjec-
ton to Jesus.
The second characteristic of the first
Christians way of living was, they be
lieved they lived by the strength OF
God. They talked about themselves
as being possessed of the spirit Of God,
the soul of God. The Holy Spirit, the
Holy Soul. spake through their lips,
moved in their hands, dwelt in their
hearts. This was a remarkable con-
seriousness, this consciousness OF God
as being concerned in every detail or
being and doing. The birth of this con-
seriousness, the descent OF this Holy
Soul, is placed in the opening of the
story as the most memorable thing
about the way. Every individual, even
the common people. who took Jesus
for their Lord, felt that their life and
Gods were all of II piece. The work
ing of this soul of God. this Holy
Spirit. was felt everywhere and in
everything. By His power they
preached, taught. healed and ordered
their outward and inward life. Every
thing the first Christians said or did
was said or done by the strength of the
Father-God.
The third characteristic of the first
Christians way Of living was, they
laid emphasis on the common duties.
The immediate followers Of Christ be-
lieved that their first business was to
do their duty. The fruit of the
Spirit" they said, that is, the imme-
date result Of this subsection to Christ
and this union with the soul of God,
lis love, joy, peace, long suffering, gen
tleness, goodness. faith, meeknesS, self
control" The lives that they lived i'll
subsection to Jesus and by the strength
of God they lived in the midst of men.
Now this characteristic of the first
Christians way of living is all the
more remarkable when you remember
that these men were for the most part
Jews. They had been brought up to
believe that religion was summed up
in exact observance Of ecclesiastical
forms. A Jews religion consisted OF
the offering Of certain prayers in a GER
tain way, at certain times of the day,
of various washings Of the hands, OF
prescribed visits to the temple, with
prescribed gifts for each visit. TO per-
form these and q thousand other cere-
monies was to be religious, and the
performance of these things took pre-
cedence Of all else. For instance. ii
was granted by the Jews that it was q
duty to honor father and mother, but,
since the commandment requiring this
was the fifth, it ranked not so high az
the first, which required of man that
he should sacrifice to God. Therefore,
if one had only enough to buy the pro-
per sacrifice. for God, he was war
ranted in letting the parent starve and
to gain the temple Offering. Now it
was men brought up on this idea of re-
ligion who suddenly turned the tables
and laid the emphasis on common duty.
1t were better to be charitable than to
have the gift of prophecy, aye, better
than to have q faith that could remove
mountains.