The new South-news., 1908-05-16
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON 81
%. T. CALVIN A'CLELlANo.



byterisn Church. Seventh avenue and
ST Johns place. preached Sunday
morning on The Divinity OF Christ:
Cns Way in Which Man May Come
TO Believe in IT, The text was John
1.lf: The word became flesh and
ewelt among as. and We beheld His
glory. glory as OF an only beeotten
from Father. full OF grace and
truth. DR.. MeCielland said:
Ny theme is The Divinity OF
Christ. One Way in Which a Man
May Come To Believe In IL. What
do we mean by the divinity OF Christ?
] would not be theological or meta
physical. this is a sermon for prac-
fical men. for men who want to be-
lleve In this fundamental truth OF our
religion. DO we mean by calling
Jesus divine that He Is God: that IL.
all Of Cod We could not mean that.
Tor Jesus Himself said. MY Father is
greater than !. Jesus stands for
God. speaks for God. acts for God.
His ideas are Gods. His feelings are
God 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.
Aud yet In reality Jesus is no, God:
though He can say in very true
sense. He that hath seen Me hath
seen the Father" He also saws. "The
Father II greater than J." Does not
the apostle exactly express II 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. fun Of. not the Faith
er's omniprescence. omnipotence and
omnisclence. but full of the Faith
er's grace and truth" And SO.
though theoIogically Jesus is not all
OF God, yet practically | know that
when fall on my knees before Jesus
and say, My Lord and my Cod |
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 saw to
plain men. Follow Me-" which
means, You can do what | 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 so
calling Himself Jesus meant that we
should know that He was blood of our
blood. spirit OF our spirit. He was
like us not 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:
lie Is man. but more man than we.
The likeness Of Jesus to us Is patent.
but 1t is the difference we need to
realize, the likness without the differ
cnce were meaningless and useless.
II He were just man, what gain? The
world 10 full of men. II il His differ
ence from US that counts. II - th~
| difference From us which ihakes II i'm.
possible for us to call Him Jesus the
Great. which makes Him Jesus the
only. Charles Lamb once said, III
shakespeare was to come into this
room. we should all rise up to meet
him; but II that Person was to come
into IT. We should fall down and try
to kiss the hem OF His garment" 1t
Is the dinerence between Jesus and
us which makes us feel unworthy to
put our lips to the fringe OF His
cloak. 1t is the difference which
makes us call Jesus divine in way
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? Just
this. that whatever Jesus said or did
he left on men the impression OF
God: like a telescope at or through
which we cannot look without think
Ing OF the heavens, Jesus always
brought God near Always in Jesus
presence there is this unavoidabl,
feeling OF God. When He spoke, con
science heard in His voice the tone
OF Its inhnite author; when He looke<
at one, the soul felt its eternal judg
searching its innermost secrets: wheI
He acted. one knew that It was as tn,
great God would act; when He died
men felt that they had seen all o
God that human hearts could appre
hend; henceforth they knew tina
there was nothing In God a huma
mind could grasp but Christ. For al
purposes OF living Jesus is all W
know Of God; In Him the soul meet
God. God meets the soul.
NOW uOW eau man come 10 Oellov
that? Believe not that Jesus Is tn
Absolute God. breaking for the frs
time into a world from which up I
this time He had existed apart In tn
inscrutable solitudes OF innnity; bs
lieve not that Jesus is some unhuma
wedge driven into natural huma
life: but believe that in Jesus the III
seen God looks out upon us. III
moral character of the Deity become
fiesh. and In that flesh is seen to /
grace and truth
How can a man believe that? Yo
will not think as | point out this wa
that l; Is the only way in which or
can come to believe that Jesus is Il
image Of the invisible God. I give
TO you as only one practical way
which men built as ! am may come
kneel AT the manger and say: He
was born my Lord and my God"
First. then. the man who would b
lieve in the divinity of our Lord wi
bring his reason to the study OF II
Gospel. He win want to know IL Il
record is the story OF real Iii
Here. as | have intimated. reason
satisfied. Tested by the laws of c,