The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-21
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON 81
DR.. c. s. MCFARLAND.
Theme: Jesus Imperial Spirit.

DloohlJp y.
gregational Church. Eighth avenue
and Second street. Sunday morning,
the Rev. Charles S. mcfarland, Phi.
D.. of the Congregational Church OF
South Norwalk, Conn.,, author OF
"The Infinite Affection" and other
works, preached on "Tbe Imperial
Spirit Of Jesus" The texts were
from John 1927: peace I cave
with YOU: My peace I give unto you;
! not as the world giveth, give I unto
YOU. Let not your heart he troubled,
neither let it he afraid" John 1873:
"In the world We shall have tribula-
ton: but be Of good cheer. I have
overcome the world" Matthew
1924: think not that I am come
to send peace on earth: I came
not to send peace, but a sword" DR..
Mcfarland said:
Jesus is reassuring His disciples.
He says to them: Be courageous, he
bold. overcome the world. By the
world He means the temporal life.
BE masters. He says over that life;
let YOUR spirits overcome 1T.
What a sublime picture! There
He is, awaiting the end. He Is going
down to apparent defeat, to human
eyes. His life seems nought. The
cross awaits Him. a cross between
the crosses of two thieves. Barabbas
is to be chosen instead Of Himself.
He no longer has n followers. ex-
cent those faithful few, and ever they
are trembling, fearful and ready to
flee. Vet He utters these strangely
contradictory words, II am the Mas
ter of the world"
We see here also the moral gran
deur of Jesus, the translation of His
personality and His inner life into
terms Of moral power. AS He was
the great thipker, so He was the
noble liver Of the race AS He gains
the mastery Of lofty minds. so He Is
the sovereign of all noble lives.
His splendid life Is now centering
in the cross toward which 1t has been
leading. From the beginning He has
seen the end. Behind Him Is a long
trail Of moral strength. From Him
goes the impression of a sovereign
personality. He Is the supreme ex-
ample Of noble living, for the man
hood of our day, with its alternating
bravery and ~cowardice, with its noble
resolve and weak compliance. Jesus
becomes. first. the shamer and then
the insDirer of human living.
Having in some measure apDre-
hended the splendid mind of the Mas
ter and gathered something of the
moral grandeur of His life, we seek
to discover the hidden secret of His
outward splendor. Let US try to look
into His soul and discover the mean
ing of this majestic. brave. strong,
impellingly attractive manhood.
Look again at our text. recall the sit
remember that He is facing a cross,
listen to His words: peace I leave
unto you," BE full of confidence"
" have conquered the world"
Another strange thing Is the con-
tradictoriness Of the Master. For
upon another occasion did He not
say, "Think not that I am come to
send peace on the earth; I came not
to send peace, but a sword?"
How are we to explain the paradox
of these two contradictory texts?
Shall we avail ourselves of the liberty
Of criticism and say that one appears
in the Synoptic Gospels and Is his
t~orical, while the other appears in the
Fourth Gospel aud is unhistorical?
Shall we decided that one of them
Is an Interpolation? This is alto
gether too easy and ready a u. method.
Let US wait and see If we may not
bring them into harmony.
First of all let us look at the Sec
ond text and see how true 1t Is. He
sent those disciples forth into the
world. Did not they find the sword?
Their story Is a continuous one of
persecution, Imprisonment, death. If
there was the one thing they did not
find it was peace. Peter and John
began at Jerusalem. They were told
that they must not speak or teach in
the name of Jesus. They went out,
prayed for courage and went to
preaching again. For it they were
beaten with stripes. They received
their hundredfold reward with per-
secutions."
What mockery are Jesus words to
Him! peace I leave with you"
How fortunate If the Fourth Gospel
were written very late and is unrelia-
BILE! Does it not make u Lord
gully VI ldlSS IOpuSSy
The story goes on through succeed
ing ages. The successors Of these
disciples live and die in Roman cata-
combs and caves. They are hunted.
hungered, despised, prosecuted, suf-
fering unto death. How it must have
Knocked them: Peace I leave with
you" Jesus bequest was broken, or
at least this codicil revoked. .
But even all this Is less perplexing
than the u%tterance coming from the
lips of the man who spoke it. Was
it a mistaken prophecy Of Jesus? Be-
cause His own life was so calm and
peaceful did He suppose that His
disciples would be also? Look for
a moment at the life of the man from
whose lips these words come. Fol-
lection, in His disputes with carping
critics, with His misunderstanding
and quarreling disciples. Not a place
to lay His head. Go with Him on the
mountainside at night. Witness Him
in the Garden, where He sweat, as it
were, great drops of blood. Behold
Him on Calvary between thieves.
Watch Him crowned with thorns,
buffeted, spat upon, Knocked in dis
dain. What a contrast and contra
diction are His words: Peace l
leave with you; My peace I give unto
YOU" Evidently we must accept the
prophecy Of u second text and deny
the truth of the first.
Before doing so let us go back and
look at those disciples again and be-
hold another aspect Of their life.
! Peter is there, It is true, in prison.