The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-10-02
THE PULPIT.
SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERNoN ~
Dr.. c. s. MACFAIRLaNp
Theme:' Jesus Imperial Hpnit.


BROOKLYN. y. YIN the v1rl, Con-
rrega 'iOnal Church. Eighth avenue
md Second street. Sunday morning,
he Rev. Charles :. Nacfarland. Ph.
T., of the Congregational Church OF
Fouth Norwalk. Conn, author of
Forks, preached on The Imperial
From John 1927: peace 7 leave
r0t as the world giveth. give I unto
Tou. Let not your heart be troubled.
Heither let IL he afraid" John 1898:
r'n the world We shall have trihula-
siNn: but be OF good cheer. 7 have
ova~oome the world" Matthew
T0:34 Think not that I am come
10 send neace on earth: 7 came
pot 10 send neace, but a sword" DR..
Np "farlard said:
Jesus is reassur'ng His disciples.
lie saws 10 them: Be courageous. he
hold. overcome the world. Bv the
world He means the temporal life.
BE masters. He saws ove~ that lie;
LET vOur sniritS overcome II.
What a sublime picture There
down TO apparent defeat. 70 human
ewes. His life seems nought. ~he
cross awaits Him n cross between
the crosses Of two thieves. Parabhas
is TO be chosen instead nf Himself.
He no longer has anv followers. ex-
cent those faithful few. and even thev
are trembling. fearful and ready 10
fee. Vet He utters these strar gely
contradictory words. a. 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 l'fa into
terms Of moral power. AS He was
the great thinker. so He was The
noble liver OF the race. As He Gains
the mastery Of loftv minds. so He is
the sovereign Of all noble lives.
His splendid life IS now centering
In the cross toward which II has beer
leading. From tho beginning He has
seen the end. Behind Him is a long
trail OF moral strength. From Him
goes the impression Of n sovereign
personality. He is the supreme eX-
ample Of noble living. for the man
hood Of our dav, With its alternating
bravery and coward 'ce. with its noble
resolve and weak compliance Jesus
becomes. first. the shamer aud ther
the insDirer of human living.
Having in some measure annre-
hended the splendid mind os the Mas
ter and gathered something Of the
moral grandeur Of His Ifa. we seek
TO discover the hidden secret Of His
outward snlondor. Let us try 60 look
into His soul and discover the mean
ing Of this majestic. brave. strong.
impellinglv attractive manhood.
Look again at our text. recall the sit
uation under which It was uttered
remember that he Is facing a cross.
listen 20 His words: "Peace 7 leave
unto YOU" "Be full Of confd ence. "
81 have conquered the world" "
Another strange thing Is the con-
tradiCtOriness of the Maetor For
upon another occasion did lie not
say, "Think not that 7 am come 10
send peace on the earth: 7 came not
TO send peace. but a swOT62'
low are we to explain the paradox
Of these two contradictory tavts7
Snall we avsil Curselvo- Of the liberty
Ci criticism and say t.at one appears
in the Svnoptic Gospels and is his
torical, while the other appears in the
Fourth Gospel and is unhistOrioal?
Shall we decided that ore Of them
is an Interpolation? This is alto
gather too easy and ready a 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 il is. He
sent those disciples forth iuJo the
world. Did not they find the sword? E?
Their story is a continuous one Of
] persecution, imprisonment, death. II
there was the one thing they did not
find it was peace. Peter and John
began at Jerusalem. They were told
taat they must not speak or teach in
the name OF Jesus. They went out,
prayed for courage and went to
preaching again. For il they were
beaten with stripes. They received
their hundredfold reward with per-
secutions.
What mockery are Jesus words TO
Him. Peace | leave with you. ="
How fortunate If the Fourth Gospel
were written very late and is unrelia.
BILE, Does it not make our Lori
guilty of false prophecy?
The story goes on through succeed
ing ages. The successors of these
disciples live and die in Roman cats-
combs and caves. They are hunted,
hungered, despised. prosecuted, suf-
fering unto death. How it must have
Knocked them: Peace / leave with
you Jesus bequest was broken, or
at least this codicil revoked.
But even all this is less perplexing
than the utterance coming from the
lips OF the man who spoke il. Was
II 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 tae life OF the man from
whose lips these words come. Fol-
low Him in His weariness, in His re-
lection fu His ff,Dutpg with earning