The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-08-01
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. WILLIAM r. RICHARDS.
Subieet-"F Glowing Jesus


ing, the pastor, the Rev. William r.
Richards, preached to large congre'
cation on Following Jesus" He TOOK
for his text Matthew ix:19, And
Jesus arose and followed him. and
so did his disciples" and said:
The question comes to us, What II
meant to be a Christian at the time
when Jesus was living on the earth?
Of course, the word christian" had
not then come into use, but the fact
is the Christian life existed, and our
question is, What was it like. how
it began, how it showed itself, by
what upward step would a man prove
that he had made the great choice
and had become what we would now
call Christian? If we want to know
we have to look into the gospel OF
history, and, looking there, we find
a plain and emphatic answer in one
word, the word follow" For the
common way of announcing that any
man had made the great choice tor
Jesus was to say. HE rose and fol-
lowed Hin" There are sixty-nine
places where we read of one and an
other and of many at once who fol-
lowed Jesus. That is the historic pic
ture Of the Christian life in those
days. 1t is the leader walking here
and there about the country and his
disciples following Him. In the beau
tiful parable Jesus is described as
the shepherd going on ahead and his
sheep, who proved they we're his sheep
because they knew His voice, follow
ing him. That is the regular order
of the sacred history: Jesus going
before and the others following. But
there Is one singular marked excep'
tion to that order. It is all the more
striking because it stands alone. Just
once in the gospel of history this
term is used. in the other order Some
one else is leading, 1t is Jesus that is
following. Who can this other leader
be who spoke with such authority that
Jesus followed him? You might think
it was some great teacher and lead
er experienced in the things OF God.
But 1t was not SO. because after
Jesus had once claimed the position
as teacher He never consented to fol-
low another teacher. Or perhaps
some supreme ecclesiastic. who, be
cause of his sacred office could take
precedence of Jesus. But 1t was not
so. for If you look into the history
you find that Our Lord never for a
moment rendered such supremacy to
any church official. His word was al
ways Follow me-" Or you might
think it was some civil ruler, like
King Herod or PLATE, or the great
Caesar himself at Rome. But it was
not so; He never consented to follow
any great man on earth. He did say,
Render unto Caesar the things that
are Caesars" but He was talking
about taxes, not His personal allegl-
ance; that was not one Of the things
that were Caesars. 1t was not at the
summons Of any person that Jesus
rose up and followed. What was 1t,
then?
You remember the story. The man
was named Jairus. He was, 1t IS
true, ruler Of the synagogue, but
that meant little more than the leader
of a prayer meeting. 1t would have
been just the same had he been a
beggar. He was beggar on this oc-
casion: while Jesus spake these
things, behold, there came a certain
ruler, saying, My daughter IS even
now dead, but come, and lay thy hands
upon her and she shall live. And
Jesus rose up and followed him" The
secret Is out. There was man VINO
could speak for a moment in a tone
of authority. then, to Jesus. because
ne spake through more immediate
contact with the worlds sorrow ana
and pain and need; that was what
gave him his precedence. Lead on,
man! Jesus follows. How strange!
1t seemed to me that we might take
this as one of the passages that re-
| mind US of the Lords humanity, show
ing how He was shut out by limita-
ton of knowledge, how He must walt
until some one came and showed Him
| the home where the shadow OF death
was. I suppose it is true in some
sense, but as you muse upon, you 1eel
1t was also an illustration OF HIS
Godhood. What kind OF message IS
it that comes with authority to the
ears of the Creator? Some story or
| His creatures need. 1t Is our weak
ness that moves God, our humility,
emptiness. 1t is our cry OF emptiness
our cry of need, that moves GOO. IL
1t were possible to conceive OF sucn d
thing as the limitation Of the knoWl-
| edge of God-if you could conceive OF
yourself as going into the presence
of God ard informing Him that some
where in some forgotten corner or
| His universe there was some unknown
| creature, unknown to Him, that was
| perishing for want of Him, az. you
were the only guide qualified to sno"
the way to that creature, we may
| say, with all reverence that you coulo
! expect GOO Himself to rise up anu
| follow you. And Jesus rose up anu
| followed Jairus to the house OF sor-
row. My friends, let us comfort our
selves with the assurance that any
such message as that will move the
Lord today Just as in the days Oh
Jairus. Whatever pain or sorro"
there is in your own house or tine
house of your friend, yoI may go 10
Him straightway and tell Him, anu
when you return you may be sure
that you are taking His presence with
| you. Be sure man OF that KIND IS
a privileged character; he takes pre-
cedence of all. When Jarius has mn.
ished speaking, Jesus rises up and
| follows him.
Now that is only the first part OF
our text This is the second part:
And so did His disciples" AS dis
ciples it was their business to follow
Jesus, and now Jesus was following
Jairus Is not this most excellent
| examnle for anv lnYal church? The