The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-29
"1 DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON : 
 R D..

 i midst of the people and said, 'I am the | Christ whom the prophets foretold.", He ! said T am the Messiah who has come to i establish a kingdom" He did more than i that. He compared Himself to a foun- tain of living water of which if any man should drink he would never thirst again. 1 He did more than that. He said that if any man should believe on Him the divine ; power which He possessed would flow 1 through the human heart as through a | living channel. In all the history of the | world was there ever human being who took to Himself such divine authority as did Christ? Do you wonder that when the officers of the law at the behest of the chief priests, went to apprehend Jesus | they stood amazed and exclaimed, Never man spake like this Man"
 Ills Claim of Divinity.
 But the exalted claims of this livine Nazarene did not end with mere words. | He saids T am the Christi" Then he again said, "I will prove 1t by worleing g | the most wonderful miracles man ever | witnessed. Do you see that young man who was born blind?. l touch his eyes and they are opened. See, here is deaf | and dumb man. l place my finger in his ear and on his tongue and he Is able to hear and speak. See. here is a dead man. Decomposition has already set | in. That body is corpse. l will call | him and he will rise up and turn his | bier Into a couch. do these miracles to | prove to you that I am divine. All power is In me. I and my Father are | one" Thus did Jesus to prove his di- vinity. He was a man. He was born | bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, | yet at the same time he said 'I am Cad nm the Messiah whose advent was | prophesied from the earliest time. Lis ten to me-" Do you not realize that this claim of divinity makes Christ stand ! forth from all other men as distinctively individual?
 Now. my brother. if this divine Christ has a divine strength to give to you what you can receive from no other source, does 1t not behoove you to seek Christ and ask for this divine blessing? If Jesus is truly God, are you not willing to kneel down and ask for his pardon and his loye2 And especially would you not have this divine strength when 1t Is offered freely to the vilest and the most fragrant sinners as 1t is offered to you?
 Professor Phillips tells the story of burglar who broke into a seaside mansion. He tumbled into the middle of the par Tor floor all the valuabes which he wished to take away, but in the corner of that parlor was a beautiful figure of Guido's "Ecce Homo" There was the Christ as only the Italian master could paint him. Jesus head was crowned with throns. With a look of ineffable love he seemed to say: 'I am dying for you. I am dying that you might be saved from sin and live forever with me" The burglar stopped in his work of theft and began to study that face. Then he seemed to say, 70 Christ, 1 cannot steal while thou art looking at me-" And so he turned the face of Jesus to the wall. O man, O woman, o child, are to ba pf Chrfet away? Remember his parched bleeding lips are ready to speak words of enternal life to you. Are you going to turn your back upon this Christ, who Is man and yet God? Can you not hear Christ say ing to you, "Jf any man thirst let him come unto me and drink" God is speak ing Christ Is speaking. He is speak ing to you. He Is speaking to me. He Is speaking to all sinners. Yea he Is speak ing to the whole world.
 But Christ did more than claim d. vine kingshlp. When he opened his lips he taught a new social doctrine. He upset all the foundation stones upon which the society of his day had been built He came to the rich man and said, That poor man Is thy neghbor." He came to the man who had grlev- ance against his neighbor and said: "rhe Mosaic law Is not in force now. It Is not eye for eye or tooth for tooth. It ia
 
 mercy for transgression. Bless them which perseucute you. Bless and curse not Could there have been a more revolutionary doctrine preached than that which Christ taught in his message of the new ltingdom9
 A Woman's Preaching.
 l once heard an anarchist, woman, preach her horrible doctrine That night after the meeting when I lay in bed with D1 t1atr haffa A. tho desplcable teachings of this danger ous woman, I thought of the shock Christs teachings must have given to those scribes and Pharisees of His day But what difference. She preached mur- der and revolution. He preached peace and good will to men. Every word of her address was fiery with hate and malig- nifty; all his words were tender and lov- Ing She demanded fire and sword for her foes; His prayer was: 'Father, for- give them. They know not what they do.' As l tried to compare the sermon on the mount with the teachings and the tenets of the Pharisees I could under stand how they would be shocked l saw the gentle, humble Christ in His coarse garments pointing to the rich robes of the high priest and saying, Thou shalt not make my Fathers house a place of mcr- chandise." Then l saw Jesus placing His loving hands upon the rich rulers shoulder and tenderly saying, Sell all thou hast and give to the poor" Then in the darkness of the night after I had attended tho anarchistc meeting I said to myself: What poor doctors for world awry men arei This woman pereeivcs so cial injustice. and she would tear so- ciety to atoms but the divine Christ. per ceiving social injustice, bids society pat tern itself on His kingdom, which Is n heaven. Yes, Christ did more than claim lis divine Kngshlp His teachings were the message of love. When Jesus ap- peared the old Mosaic dispensation of an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth as thep rinciple of social life disappeared forever As l going beyond my right when declare that in reference to Jesus the teacher, Viewer man spake like this man?"
 But there was another fact about Christ which ndividualized Him as the most unique of all personalities. He claimed that His dominion should vet cover this round world as the waters cover the sea And yet. when the Hebrew people wanted to make Him their earthly king Jesus refused all temporal power. He said: My kingdom is not of this world, If my king dom were of this world, then would any servants fight that I should not be deliV- cred to the Jews; but now is my king dom not from hense." In other words, the man who was offered David's throne deliberately turns His back upon 1t, and yet He claims divine kngshlp. From a human standpoint, could you imagine anything more ineXpicable?
 While thinking along this line nv mind