The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1909-11-11
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. N. HAL0sMAN
Theme: Seminaries a Menace.

New YORK City.-B9tOre an audi
ence that taxed the capacity of the
building, the Rev. DR.. l. M. Halde-
man delivered the second sermon on
"The Signs of the Time" His sub
iect was: "The Modern Theological
Seminary a Menace and Peril to the
Church" The text was II. Kings,
2;16. He said
Elijah, the mighty prophet of God,
who defed the king, shut up the
heavens that there was neither dew
nor rain, but according to his word,
slew the prophets of Baal, called
down fire from heaven upon the sac
efice, visited terrific judgment upon
the land, Is now to- be taken up to
heaven by a whirlwind, attended by
celestial horsemen and charlots CT
Are. Elisha, his successor in the pro-
phetic office, accompanies him on the
Journey from Gilgal to Bethel, from
Bethel to Jericho, where there was a
theological seminary, and the sons OF
The prophets tthe ministerial students
Of that day. said to elisha: Snow
est thou that the Lord will take away
thy master from thy head this day?"
And he answered: Yea, | know it.
Hold We your peace" And they two
went on to the River Jordan And
fifty of the sons Of the prophets went
and stood afar off to view what would
happen. And Elijah took his mantle
and smote the waters and they were
divided, so that they two went over
on dry ground. And Elijah said unto
Elisha: Ask what shall do for .hee
before be taken away" And Elisha
said: Il pray thee, let a double por-
don OF thy spirit be upon me-" And
he said: "Thou has asked a hard
thing; nevertheless, II thou see me
when am taken away, It, shall be so
unto thee, but If not, 1t shall not be
So" And it came to pass as they still
went on, behold, there appeared
chariot and horses of fire, and parted
them both asunder, and Elijah went
up by whirlwind into heaven. And
Elisha saw 1t and cried: MY father,
my father, the chariot of Israel and
the horsemen thereof" And when
Elisha returned to Jericho with the
mantle of Elijah. the sons of the pro-
phets said: THE spirit of Elijah
does rest upon Elisha" And they
said unto him: Behold, there be
with us fifty strong men. Let them
go and seek my master, lest perad-
venture, the Spirit of the Lord hath
taken him up and cast him upon
some mountain or into some valley" !"
And he said: "Ye shall not send" !"
But they urged him until he was
ashamed. and he said: Send" They
sent therefore fifty men; and they
sought three days, but found him not.
And when they came again to him
(for he tarried at Jericho), he said
unto them. Did not say unto you,
Go not?'"
To-day we have the same story.
The passing through Jordan typifies
our Lords death and resurrection,
for Jordan, in Scripture. sets forth
Judgment, and is type of the cross
of Christ, where with an agony that
rent the rocks and drew the veil OF
midnight darkness over the face of
nature, He bore the judgment Of sin
in His own body on the tree, crying
out: MY Cod my God, why didst
Thou forsake mel" Christ came not
to be an example or a teacher but to
be a sacrifice-to die for the sin of
the world-for He poured out His
soul unto death.
The ascension of Elijah sets forth
in type our Lords ascension into
heaven, through the shining portals
of glory, to sit down on the right
hand of the majesty in the heavens,
an enthroned sin-purger, the risen
man in the heavens in bodily pres
ence. The spirit of Elijah resting
upon Elisha shows the spirit of Christ
incarnated in the Church. After our
Lords resurrection He breathed upon
His disciples saying: Receive ye the
Holy Spirit" and on the day of Pente-
cost the promise OF the Father was
fulfilled, and they were endued with
power from on high.
Our present-day theologians are
like the thcologians of Jericho of old
They perceive the spirit Of Christ, but
repudiato His material presence In
heaven. All sorts OF things are be-
ing attributed by them to the Spirit
of Christ. They tell us that the Spirit
of Christ has given US the marvellous
inventions of the day, rapid transit
airships, woman suffrage, and in
spired the discovery of the NORTH
Pole All those things of the spirit
of the natural man, these Jericho
theologians Of our modern seminarie'
tell us are the outworkings of the
Spirit of Christ in man. OF course
+ they deny a bodily resurrection anC
teach n ghostly Christ, instead of on,
who called 10 His disciples to "handl,
] Me and see that am flesh and bones
and not a spirit as ye think" ant
who sat at meat with them, after HI
resurrection, partaking OF brolled fisl
and honeycomb As the sons of tn,
prophets of old sought 10 account TO
the disappearance Of Elijah, so d.
our modern, up-to-date theologians
whether native born or imported
seek to account for the disappearance
of Christ.
One would almost think that whel
these learned men in the wisdom o
this world" pass away, all knowledg
will perish with them. Some, lik
Elisha, who was called from the plow
when confronted with the assertion
OF agreed scholarship" trained men
tality and the assumptions OF wis
men of Jericho, grow ashamed an
stumble and fall I'm power and be
come paralyzed. We should repudi
ate most earnestly those who attemp
to explain away the miraculous.
We should repudiate the preache
or professor In our theological inst
tutions who questions the bodily res
direction of Christ. the Virgin birth
the physical ascension into heave
and the second coming of our Lord 4
glory. majesty and power.
To-day men are being ordained In
to the sacred ministry from our Jer
cho theological seminarles who teac
not individual huf a0cinl salvation