The Penn's Grove record., 1906-07-13
THh PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
HE REV. WILLIAM r. RICHARDS,
suhlect-"F GLOWING Jesus"

sublect-"F blowing Jesus"
NEW YORK CITY.-In the Brick
Presbyterian Church, Sunday morn
ing, the pastor, the Rev. William R.
Richards, preached to a large congre-
cation on Following Jesus" He took
1or his text Matthew ix:19, "And
Jesus arose and followed him and
so did his disciples" and said:
The question comes tt us, What it
meant to be a Christian at the time
when Jesus was living on the earth?
or 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 a 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
WIN lAC WOIu lOllOW. fOT the
common way of announcing that any
mar had made the great choice for
Jesus was to say. HE rose and fol-
lowed Him" 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 were 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-
ton 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
n 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
" 4NL(Cd Ii the l1lASS VI GOu. |
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 it was not
so. for If you look into the history
you find that OR 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 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 allegi-
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. it is
true, a 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 a beggar on this &C.
casion: while Jesus spake these
things, behold, there came a certain
ruler, saying, My daughter is eve
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 a man who
could speak for a moment in a tone
of authority, then. to Jesus, because
ne spake through more immediate
contact with the worlds sorrow and
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 wait
Intil some n came and showed Him
the home where the shadow of death
was. / suppose it is true in some
sense, but as you muse upon, you feel
it 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 OF
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 God. II
1t were possible to conceive of such a
thing as the limitation Of the knowl-
edge of God-if you could conceive OF
yourself as going into the presence
of God arAl informing Him that some
where in some forgotten corner of
His universe there was some unknown
creature, unknown to Him, that was
perishing for want of Him, and you
were the only guide qualified to show
the way to that creature, we may
say, with all reverence that you could
expect God Himself to rise up and
follow you. And Jesus rose up and
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 of
Jairus. Whatever pain Or sorrow
there is in your own house or the
house of your friend, you may go to
Him straightway and tell Him, and
when you return you may be sure
that you are taking His presence with
you. Be ure a man of that kind is
a privileged character; he takes pre-
cedence of all. When Jarius has fin
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 a most excellent
example for any loyal church? The
question that ought to come to us is
the question of leadership, human
leadership of a Christian church, and.
of course, l shall often expect to find
that kind of leadership in the church
itself. Men and women experienced
in the things of God who can serve
as leaders for their younger brethren.
1t was so in the days of the apostles.
Men like Paul who charged the