The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-06-05
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A SERMON &ES@
81 THE REV. M|1NE
aMWEENDEYoNWF
Subject: The Man Jesus.

"Sir, we would see Jesus" He said:
Let US go with these certain Greeks
of whom John bears us record and
see Jesus. Down the long perspect7
i've of the ages let us look at Christ,
the man.
A study of the career of the Sa-
vior will indicate two central and
crucial elements in His character as
a man. Jesus was a man OF parts;
He was also a man of power. The
Lord was not a negative being. He
had definite ability and the energy to
put His gifts into direct achieve
mentS.
The Christ was a man of parts. AS
a philosopher He is peerless; as a
teacher He can teach US all the way
to teach; a preacher to mankind His
messages convince. His ministry is a
present and a constant Joy to the
weary and a sweet remembrance to
heart and soul alike.
Jesus was a man of power. His
spirituality is unsurpassed. His
goodness is the godly kind that we
admire. His sincerity makes the
heart sure; His commanding positive
ness is refreshing. His constancy
was sublime.
Jesus was a nan of parts. In His
clear and comprehensive statements
of eternal truths He stamped Himself
a philosopher without an equal. To
Him God was the first great cause
the personal, spiritual giver and
ruler of all life. For Him union with
the will of God in a holy, godly life
is the highest good for men and for
society. In the mind of Christ sin Is
'disobedience to the will of the Father
and its wages is deliberate separation
from Him-that is to say, death.
The things that are spiritual are the
only things that last unto eternity,
and it was to the attainment of eter-
nal graces as the end of human exist
ence that Christ turned the attention
of mankind. A glance into the depths
and ranges and reaches of human
thought and experience that His
many messages touch will convince
any man, however skeptical he may
be, of His predominant position
among this worlds philosophers.
Jesus is markedly a teacher as He
unfolds and explains the mysteries OF
divine verities. With the simplest
language and the most charming par
ables Jesus sent home changeless
truths. Does He desire to show the
uselessness of trust in riches He pic
lures to us the rich man with his
barns and his bank and. the wreck
thereof. Under His touch the leaven
in the loaf reveals to US the men and
the women we should be. He lights
a candle for US, and we strive to
spread His truth throughout the
globe. The supper of the mighty
lord sends us out into the highways
and the byways to bid meT lay fast
hold upon salvation, free, rich, sufh-
Gent. AS a teacher Christ is master
full. He takes a mustard seed and
we see the coming of the kingdom.
A mar hides a talent in a napkin and
stands forever as a danger signal be-
side the kings highway. The foolish
virgins are a lesson to us to be ready
for the coming of the Master. These
and the rest Of the parallels of Jesus
are full of suggestion and of implica-
ton, weighty with concentrated prin-
ciple.
Jesus taught spiritual and moral
principles. He was not foolish
enough to endeavor to give to US a
set of rules which should be for US a
sort of guide book or directory. He
gave no set of statutes. Realizing
that we are men and not automatons
our Lord suggests the principles and
then leaves the individual to work
out for himself under the guidance
of the Spirit of God the application
of the principle Of his own life. Christ
didn't worry about the geographical
situation of Judea or yer the Ques-
ton as to whether the world is fat or
round. Those points at issue were
quite beyond His province. His mis-
sion was to teach spiritual and moral
truth, and He had neither time nor
taste for anything else. Why should
He worry over secondary ard tran
sient matters when the souls of men
were in dire need Of that primal
truth which is necessary unto eternal
life?
Jesus also taught with authority.
He knew that the truth was in Him
and He let no man contradict Him
with success.
He spake, and to those men-be-
lieving and unbeiieving-it came as
the voice of God. The honest heart
ed believed unto salvation; those
who didn't want to accept His truth
sent Him away in scorn and crucifled
Him at the last. The Jews sent
Jesus to His death not because they
did not realize the force of His words
but very largely because He spake
too much truth to suit them. Some
one has said that there is no more
hazardous task than that of carrying
the torch of truth into those hidden
recesses where the light has eve
shown. Jesus found this to be true.
Christ's application of His theories
to the needs of every day and His
positive insistance upon the legiti-
macy of the demands of goodness
and ultimate truth upon the lives of
all men are the secrets of His mar
velous power are a preacher. He not
only preached abstract theory but
also showed how these ideas could
become factors for uplift in the busy
lives of men. The duty to love God
and to serve the truth was not with
Him a mental problem, but a fact of
life. Christ never minced words.
He knew that which He was after,
and He never failed to make His
hearers see what He meant. Vivid.
direct, without a waver, Christ sent
home the truth. And it was this
that gained Him both friends and
enemies, as it will any man who dares
to state the truth me either cannot
see or will not hear. What a pro-
phet He was and oh, what a need
there is to-day for men who can see
and feel, for men with insight and
provision, men who dare to probe
the present and the past and to pre-
dict the future. fearlessly, inspiring
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