The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-08-22
T He PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. DR.. D. G. DOWNEY.
Subject: The Full-OIbed Life.

when Jesus knew that His hour
was come" and Jesus, knowing
that He was come from God anu
went to God" and he said:
To Jesus of Nazareth life was
never merely a chance. 1t never
was lust happened so" 20 Him. 10
Him it was always opportunity. he
conceived Himself, I .hink, from
very early life, as man OF destiny
with a work to do, task to be &C
complished and trust to pc iui-
filled. In the morning Of His lie
He said: twist We not that l must
be about My Fathers business!
All through His career there was
the evidence that He thought and
felt that some important work would
surely come to Him. frequently he
gave expression to this in some such
form as when He said, Now am L
straishtened until it is accom-
plisfed." Nevertheless, we are told
that He "set His face steadfastly to-
ward Jerusalem" Now, while II IS
true that Jesus conceived Himself
as a man of destiny, with word TO
do and a task to be accomplished, II
is noticeable that He never allowed
Himself to. be hurried toward the
accomplishment Of His task. II you
have ever noticed that, l think you
will be a little surprised to see how
often it is said that His hour had
not vet come. He Himself said,
My time is not yet" MY hour is
not yet come" The time is not
ripe" and just as He did not allow
Himself to be hurried, so He never
permitted Himself to he diverted
from the main purpose of His life.
Men tried to make Him king by
force. Many of them expected that
at that time He would set up the
kingdom of Israel, overthrow the
Roman power and be the Israelite
leader, and He told them plainly that
He would not be diverted from the
saying, MY kingdom is not Of this
world" But with all this, Jesus
knew that His hour would surely
come and tn, entirety of His life
was the preparation for fulfilling
His hour, for meeting that hour
when it came, and for completing
His life. Every mans hour, it seems
to me, comes when he can freely and
fully express the thoughts and con-
victions that have been growing and
deepening in His soul. 1t is surely
a great moment when some voice
sounds in the soul and says: "Now
is thy hour; this is thy opportunity.
Reveal thyself; show the world what
is in thee; express thy nullity or ca
pacity; now is thy time to speak and
oo1 hn f.
speaking Of what is in a man, his
true inner and deeper self, this IS
the joy and glory Of life. 1t is sad
that many never achieve this. Some,
we must admit, do not seem to get
the opportunity, but others through
cowardice, tine servers, trimmers,
who are always wondering what the
world will think and what their fell
low men will say, not asking what
is the truth and the right thing to
do, not daring to stand before the
world and speak their word and do
their deed without thought of con-
sequences, rever achieve this JOY and
glory.
Jesus came to His supreme oppor-
tunity toward the close Of His life,
saw it coming and met it with the
high courage and the gay cheer of
the valiant soldier. 1t seems to me
that we misconceive very largely
these last acts in the life of Jesus.
We have dweh so much upon the
sadness and the suffering and looked
at the sentimental side, and these
have had, 1 think, sometimes too
large a place in our thoughts; for,
after all, we must sec that it was
for this very purpose that He came
into tho world, and that His life
would have been an utter failure
but for this glorious elimination. To
Jesus the cross was not merely
matter of sadness and sorrow. |
think that, somehow, as He faced
these closing acts of His life that He
faced them with JOY and cheer and
strengthened courage. He recoS-
nized that after all this thing was
the crowning joy and glory of His
career Hero and now as never be-
fore had the opportunity come to
Him, not only to think His thought,
but to speak His word and do His
deed and live out His life and glorify
God and to have God glorified II
Him.
1 said that His life was prepara-
ton. 1t was. Years of silence and
meditation, Of mystic communion
with nature and God, in wisdom
growing up to His task. To my
mind His life was perfectly natural.
He was not ready for His task be-
fore His hour had come. He could
not have achieved His destiny at the
age of twelve or twenty or twenty
five, not until the Lour and the man
met. There were times when He
might have put Himself in the power
OF His enemies, but He hid Himself,
and by and by FIe saw the elements
gathering and, recognizing His own
strength and knowing the will of
God and seeing that the storm was
about to break, the storm Of hatred,
and Jealousy, and envy and false
pride, with the step of the soldier
and the mien and aspect of moral
and spiritual hero, Flo went up to
Jerusalem, and men marveled. He
:;new His hour was come. He was
about to be glorifed, and God was to
to glorified in Him. He had been
thinking and speaking and teaching,
and now He was to eXemplify and
illustrate and give special proof OF
the truth of all that He had said.
He was destined to be cast out, yet
He thoroughly understood that the
time was coming when His spiritual
supremacy and kinghood would be
acknowledged to the limits of the
earth and to the bounds OF time.
And how stands it this morning? Do
we not see that He is the spiritual