Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1908-05-21
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR. T CALVIN M'CuELLAND.
Theme: The Divinity of Christ.


Brooklyn, N. Y.-Dr. r. Calvin Nc
Clelland, pastor of the Memorial Pres
byterian Church, Seventh avenue and
st. johns place, preached Sunday
morning on "The Divinity of Christ:
Cne Way in Which Man May Come
to Believe in It." The text was John
liza: THE word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His
glory, glory as of an only begotten
from Father. full of s-ace and
truth" DR.. McClelland said:
My theme is "The Divinity of
Christ: One Way in Which Man
May Come to Believe in It." What
do we mean by the divinity of Christ?
would not be theological or meta
physical; this is a sermon for prac-
t1cal men. for men who want to be-
lieve in this fundamental truth of our
religion. Do We mean by calling
Jesus divine that He is God; that is,
all OF God? We could not mean that,
for Jesus Himself said, "My Father is
greater than l." Jesus stands for
God, speaks for God. acts for God,
His ideas are Gods, His feelings are
Gods so much so that Jesus and God
are one: we see nothing in Jesus but
God. For all practical. purposes for
religion Jesus is God; for us He has
the spiritual value of God. He is God.
And yet in reality Jesus is not God:
though He can say in a very true
| sense. "He that hath seen Me hath
seen the Father" He also says, "The
Father is greater than l." Does not
the apostle exactly express it when he
writes, "The word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. and we beheld His
glory" not the Fathers glory, mark
| you. "but glory as Of an only begotten
of the Father, full Of" not the Faith
er's omniprescence. Onnipotence and
omniscience, but full of the Faith
er's "grace and truth" And so.
though theologically Jesus is not all
of God, yet practically I know that
when I fall on my knees before Jesus
and say, my Lord and my God," 1
am giving Him His true name.
Do we mean by calling Jesus divine
than He was something other than
man, foreigner from some alien life
to the country of human nature?
Were We tempted to think that, the
sight of Him praying with plain men,
"Our Father" would bring us to our
senses. We cannot think of Jesus
as unhuman when we hear Him say to
plain men. Follow Me-" which
means, You can do what I do, you
can be what am" Would you trans
late the term "a human being" into
Jesus language. you could find no
better term than His favorite name
for Himself, "Son of Man" In Sc
calling Himself Jesus meant that we
should know that He was blood of oul
blood, spirit of our spirit He was
like us rot in middle life only, but in
infancy. in death and after death
Jesus divinity makes Him not differ.
ent in kind, only different in degree:
He is man, but more man than we
The likeness of Jesus to us is patent
but it is the difference we need tt
realize; the likness without the differ
ence were meaningless and useless
If He were just man, what gain? The
world is full of men. 1t is His differ
ence from us that counts. 1t is thu
difference from us which makes it i'm
possible for us to call Him Jesus th'
Great, which makes Him Jesus tn,
; Only. Charles Lamb once said, II
Shakespeare was to come into thi
] room, we should all rise up to NEE
, him; but if that Person was to COM
| luJO IL, We SuOulO ldll uOW IL dl1u u
to kiss the hem Of His garment"
is the difference between Jesus am
us which makes us feel unworthy t.
put our lips to the fringe OF Hi
| cloak. It is the difference whic]
! makes us call Jesus divine in a. wa
in which we can use the word in ref
erence to no one else.
And now what is that difference
what is this divinity of Jesus? JUS
, this, that whatever Jesus said or die
He left on men the impression Q
God; like telescope at or throug
which we cannot look without think
! ing of the heavens, Jesus alway
3 brought God near. Always in Jesus
= presence there is this unavoidabl
, feeling of God. When He spoke, cor
, science heard in His voice the tone
of it's infinite author; when He locke
= at one, the soul felt it's eternal judg
l searching it's innermost secrets; whe
}. He acted, one knew that it was as th
. great God would act; when He diet
s men felt that they had seen all {
Q God that human hearts could appr'
g bend: henceforth they knew tn;
] there was nothing in God huma
mind could grasp but Christ. For a
purposes of living Jesus is all v
know of God; in Him the soul NEE
God, God meets the soul.
o Now how can man come to belle
a that? Believe not that Jesus is II
- Absolute God, breaking for the FIR
time into a world from which up
= this time He had existed apart in tt
n inscrutable solitudes of infinity; b
y lieve not that Jesus is some unhum;
wedge driven into natural hum;