The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-06-12
The pUIDIf
A SERMON NES&
BY ThE REV. N@as
QAWtENDEeSoNWe
Subject: The Son of God.

Brooklyn, n. Y.-Preaching at the
Irving Square Presbyterian Church
on the theme "The Son of God" the
Rev. Ira Wemmell Henderson, pastor
took as his text IA Matt. 80, "Of a
truth Thou art the Son of God" He
said:
In this expression of the faith Of
the boatmen in the Christ as the Son
Of God we have the consensus Of a
host of men and women who, for
nineteen centuries, have followed the
gentle Galilean. The disciples pro-
claimed their faith in the reality Of
the Sonship of Jesus after a visible,
external, objective exhibition Of His
power. In ages past. however, many
a song-sung martyr and many an
unknown saint has held firm to the
same faith, seeing only with the spir-
itual eye. And to-day every sincere
follower of our Lord acknowledges,
with a JOY that passes all human un-
d~erstanding, 'of a truth Thou art
the Son of God" From the fullness
of a rich and enriching spiritual ex-
perience do we, here and now, re-
iterate our belief in the supreme d.
vine Sonship Of u Savior and our
Lord.
Jesus Of Nazareth-the place from
which nothing good was held to come
the Messiah of the chosen people
of God, proclaimed by angels, adored
by the wisdom of the East; youthful
confounder of priests and prelates.
He it Is Of whom the apostle writes.
Jesus-the man of parallels and of
miracles; Jesus, the expounder Of
those wonderfully well-put doctrines
contained in the Sermon on the
Mount; Jesus the Christ, the King of
Israel, the Savior of the world. He
is the divine human of whom the
disciples said: "Of a truth Thou art
the Son Of God"
Let US look for a moment into the
claims of this Man, this despised MAJ
arene, this carpenters son, to the
title and to the Office of the Son of
God. Has He any claim that we are
bound to respect? Is there any rea-
o why we are called upon to serve
Him, shall we believe upon Him, or
shall we reject Him. What, in the
last analysis, is the proof that is final
that Jesus is divine.
If you will glance through those
pages of the Old Testament which
give the history Of the life and Of the
hopes Of the ancient Jewish people,
you will find that, running through
them all, the coming of a Messiah
that is to say, a Savior-is prophes-
led. To His people God has promised
a King who shall give to them eter-
nal power and an endless peace.
Step by step, incident by incident, is
unfolded in the old prophetic books
the coming Of a Christ.
Thus we see that the Man who Is
to be the Son Of God, the Messiah Of
the Jews, the King of Israel must be
q man who measures to the standards
of the God-given prophecies of the
centuries.
So much for the historic demands
upon the claims Of the Messiah. No
less imperative, however, is the need
that the Man who is to be the Son
Of God and the Savior Of the race
shall be such a revelation of God as
our hearts demand. You and l can
not trust in the Son Of God save as
He meets the requirements of our
reasoning faculties and highest sense.
- hC Vii u hoS SaAJ NC wv
declared Messiah, but also a self
proven incarnation Of Almighty God.
He must not only bear divine letters
of recommendation to us, but also
convince us by a living divinity that
He is what He claims to be. And
above all the truths Of His messages
must be proven practical forces in
our own lives r W. can believe.
Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior
Of the world, the Messiah of the
Jews, the King of Israel. AS we have
seen the man who is these must
measure true to the standards Of the
God-given prophecies Of the centur-
ies. Jesus so measures. Throughout
the whole of the New Testament the
revelation of Christ as the fulfillment
of prophecy is set forth. He is the
Messiah. He is the King whom God
has promised to His people Israel.
He is the Son Of David for whom the
holy lei Of many generations
yearned. Christ satisfies all the de-
mands of the Old Testament pro-
phetic writers. From that stand
point He Is the Son Of God and Saw
ior. But whether or no there had
been. given prophecies aforetime,
there are grander and more glorious
reasons for faith in Christ as the Son
of God. Christ is such a revelation
Of God as u hearts demand. For
as we read the story of His life we
see manifold instances Of His divine
power, purity and perfectness. Time
and again we see His godhood and
divinity in His workings and His
words. He is the fullness of grace
and truth. Yes, my friends, in His
miracles and His messages, in His
acts of love and His conscience-touch-
ing truths, this man Of sorrows and
of griefs reveals His Sonship divine.
The power of God shows through His
physical miracles, the love of the
Father shines through the spiritual
transformations that He wrought.
From what other lips do we hear
such deep, such soul-satisfying prom
Uses and commands. Nowhere in the
history of all the world has there
been another such a nan Mohamet,
Confucius, Buddha-the ethical and
philosophical teachers Of all peoples
and of every age-are incompatible
with that personal, sanctifying Savior
of the Christian soul, whose name is
Light and Love.
But Jesus not only meets demands
as a revelator, He is also assured of
our confidence through the fact that
His words and His life are in har-
mony. Jesus not only revealed by
word the sort of God for whom in
wardly we yearn, but He also exem-
plifed in His life the fullness of truth
which He preached. Telling of the
love that crowns the character of
God He was lovely. Preaching the
essential spiritual nature of the Fa-
Their He was Himself spiritually con-