The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-06-15
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. c. &: JEFFERSON,
Subject: Wanted: A New Vision of God.

New 4ork City. - In the famous
Broadway Tabernacle the pastor, tn
Rev. Charles Edward Jefferson, D. D.
ON Sunday preached the following ser
mon entitled. Wanted: A New Visiol
Of God:''
The great word on the lips of tn,
coming preacher will be God" Th,
name which is above every name ha.
been too much neglected in these re
cent years, even by the men anointeG
to proclaim it.
There have been reasons for this neg
lect. The evolutionary philosophy
awakened new and thrilling interes1
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 has
he done such mighty deeds. He is 9
miracle worker who says each evening
Il will do greater things tomorrow. -
His prowesS, cunning and mastery are
astounding, and to chant his praises
has been our pastime and delight.
The miseries of man have also con.
splred 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
1riy w. fo
and power. To lift the man who is
down and place him on our beast and
get him into the nearest inn is a prob
lem of vast dimensions, and has taken
a deal of our thought and time.
We have been caught in the COM
plex 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 our eyes off
the Creator. Our first duty.is the step
of the prodigal, II will arise and 60
back to my father"
The prophet of the coming days is
going to say in the words of one of
old, Il have yet somewhat to say on
Gods behalf" Mans cause has been
pleaded eloquently and long, and the
time has arrived for the |forthputting
of the claims of God. Beginning at
the, earth always ends in Babel, be-
ginning at the throne of God leads to
Pentecost.
hoa al {o
gelsm of the apostles. Wherever Paul
went his message was, I'VE pray you
in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to
God" Simon Peter net the uproar
in the streets of Jerusalem on the Day
of Pentecost with a great Gee aratioE
of God-"I will pour out of Ny spirit 9.
upon all fesh''; and from first to last
it was upon what God had done in
Christ that he based his passionate eX-
hortation to repentance.
Ali deep-eyed men are seeing with
increasing clearnesS that it is not by
ecclesiastical might or political power,
buf by the epirit of Jehovah that the
mountains of iniquity are TO be leveled
ana the rough places made smooth. |
The evangelism of the coming days |
will begin with God.
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 fiabbiness of respon-
sibility and a laxness of conduct, which
unless eounteracted, will lead to our
ruin. The pessimism and hopeless
ness so prevalent to-day, even among
protesting Christians are the direct
result of failure to grasp the funda-
mental doctrine Of Gods omnipotence.
Along with the doctrine Of Gods
;overeignity Will go the doctrine Of
His immanence. It is an old doctrine
'ouched in fresh phraseology and with
few light shot through it by modern
science. The doctrine is written large
lcross the pages of Scripture, and in
very land and time the saints have
,nown that God dwells n the hearts /
4 men. In Him we live and move
nd have our being. as the apostle
ong ago declared. And centuries be-
ore PauPS day a Hebrew poet thrilled
y the thought of Gods omnipotence
Vrote the 139th Psalm. It
That God is above all and through | t
ii, and in sll, and that of Him and I
trough Him and to Him are all
hings is one of the commonplaces of g
be Bible; and whether we use the old {
hrase, 'the indwelling God" or the e
hrase now most popular, "the imma-
ent God" the thought needs to be t
Emphasized and wrought into the con- il
clousness Of the Christians Of our day \
nat God is in His world and dwells il
special fulness in the hearts Of those "
Tho love and serve Him. t
NOT will the holiness of God be for il
often. The decadence of the sense t.
sin has been caused by the blur o
ng Of the doctrine of Gods holiness. Ii
-eiy Father VS. the title by which O.
esus knew God. and it is thus that a.
e must know Him if it is to be well
18th our souls. The forms in which
was often preached in pre-,
.ding generations were so grotesuue e
I'd arbitrary that some of US have w
zen ashamed to say it right out clear al
,d et~opp thot God ,,,,n.eh,. s | "