The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-05-17
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Subject: The Son OF God.

Brooklyn. ~. 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 Il Matt. 33. "Of a
truth Thou art the Son Of Cod" lie
said:
In this expression of the faith of
the bOatmen in the Christ as the Son
. OF God we have the consensus of
host OF men and women who, for
nineteen centuries, have followed the
7 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-
derstanding, "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 di-
vine Sonship of our Savior and our
/ Lord.
Jesus Of Nazareth-the place from
/ which moth ing 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 il 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 Cod"
Let us look for a moment into the
claims Of this Man, this despised Naz-
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-
son 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 lluu lldl, / iunhIuS =
them all, the coming of q 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
20 be the Son Of God. the Messiah of
the Jews, the King OF Israel must be
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 revelation of God as
our hearts demand. You and | can
not trust in the Son of God save as
He meets the requirements of our
reasoning faculties and highest sense.
The Christ must not only be God
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 ere we 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-
4,
! 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 men of many generations
| earned. Christ satisfies all the de-
nands of the Old Testament pro-
! lhetic writer's. 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 our 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
lses and commands. Nowhere in the
! history of all the world has there
been another such a man. 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.