The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-07-26
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"A SERMON ASsSGM
pI THE REV A'ySAsE
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Subject: Jesus the Teacher.

Brooklyn, n. Y.-Preaching at the
Irving Square Presbyterian Church.
Hamburg avenue and Wierfeld
street. on the theme Jesus the
Teacher" the Rev. Ira Wemmell
Henderson, pastor, took a. his text
Matt. 5:2. And He opened His
mouth and taught them" He said:
From the days of His youth when
He put the wise men of the temple to
shame to those last hours among His
disciples Jesus was a teacher. The
teacher is the one who shows us how
to do things, how 10 achieve, how to
attain. Mere theorists may tell US
what We ought TO do and be; con-
vincing takers may tell us what the
end of true effort is; strong preach
ers may tell why We should be thus
and SO; but to the teacher alone is
given the task and the power 10 show
to us how We may become what the
orists, takers and preachers declare
we ought to be.
Fundamentally no teacher is of
good report save his teaching comes
from experience. The man who is to
teach us how to do and become must,
first of all, have attained. We can
not impart to others what We do not
know ourselves. Ignorance cannot
enlighten. Jesus mad this rich per-
sonal experience in spiritual things,
and in the teaching of eternal prin-
ciples of the spiritual life He Is un-
surpassed. This We will take for
granted in our estimate Of Jesus as
a teacher.
Let us consider some of the minor
qualities which inhered to the
preaching of the Christ. Our Lord
taught simply, searchingly, realisti-
cally, purposefully, authoritatively.
The teaching of Christ was simple.
He did not try to mix matters or the
mind of men with complex rtate-
ments. Deeper than the sea, bound
less in their extent and scope, the
truths which Jesus taught were yet
simply told, were couched in the
language of childhood, and under
standable to all. The simplicity Of
the teaching of Jesus is charming.
The message of Christ does not be-
come silly merely because 1t is SIM
pie. 1t is not a message for the
weak-minGed. Rather is it stay
for those Of the finest and the broad
its simplicity the gospel of Christ
reaches the hearts of all men.
The teaching of Christ was search
ing. How He burned through sham
and cant and Hypocrisy, and hit at
the very vitals of sin. How often He
whipped the gates off at the whited
sepulchres, and revealed the hidden
iniquity within. No wolf under
sheepskin was safe near Jesus. Jesus
didn't take superficial glances; He
probed deep and to the bottom to
reveal the covered truth or error as
the case might be. With the water
from the we'll Christ leads us to dis
Germ the everlasting springs of eter-
nal life. The good Samaritan is the
example Of mercy. The Pharisees
and the scribes show us the folly of
serving of the letter of the law for
its own sake. The boy who grew
faint, homesick, and went back into
his fathers arms, is the type of us
all. What could search out truth
more finally than that story of a
misspent life? Lord, lord" we hear
men cry, and we know that the
Christ life is not an affair Of declar-
alton so much as of doing.
Jesus taught realistically. He did
not go into metaphysics to explain
His points. but out into the world.
He didn't pay much attention to
philosophic language. He had little
time for the impractical. But how
realistic He made the truth. Sin is
eXemplified in the erring son. Sell
fishness is shown in the elder broth
er. The blowing wind is the illus
tration of the Spirit. The vine re-
veals the essential union Of Chris
tians with Christ. The two praying
In the temple mark sharply the diff
ference between self-satisfaction and
religious self-sufticiency, and the
soul humble in its sense of guilt.
That fellow who heaped money in his
Golfers and grain in his barns has a
lesson for every one. What differ
ence does II make to you who and
how many are the sinners forgiven,
when once you grasp the import OF
the parable Of the paying off of the
men who labored in the vineyard?
These are enough to show us how
realistic was the teaching of Christ.
He forced His points home in the
language of the fields, the temple,
the streets, the firesides. His Illus
trations dealt not with Impossible
situations but with daily occurrences
which might easily be paralleled in
the experience of each of His hear
ers. They knew how self-righteous
the leaders of the people were. They
had more than once seen a woman
sweep her house in search of a coin
1t was no new thing to learn that a
shepherd would go out into the
mountains leaving the flock behind
TO lend succor TO some lost and lone
ly lamb. There were tares enough
and sufficient mixed ground in Judea
TO enabls the farming element to see
the point of the parallels of the tares
and the sower. They knew as well
as we know the pervading principle
of yeast. These and multitude OF
other realistic illustrations in the
teaching of Jesus gave charm to His
words and filled His messages with
power. And the preaching OF men
will lose all its freshness and efficien-
cy Just so soon as the element OF the
realistic which holds personal inter-