The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-19

in America and worship Sturgeon;
or suppose some one wanted us to
start Phillips Brooks clubs and be-
come Brooksites, we would say,
There is a sanitarium over there;
you had better go there" You see
that if Jesus were nothing more than
a pre-eminent son of David He would
be on the same plane with Spurgeon
and Brooks. We will honor such
men and take counsel from their wis
dom, but never bow down to them.
And men would never bow down to
and worship Jesus Christ if He were
not something more than a son OF
David. But" you say, that n.y.
pothesis does not account for the fact.
I'VE admit the mystery, but there
is a certain unlisted element that we
cannot see yet" Let US see what His
apostles say. Paul had his W the
DRY when he said that He was in the
form Of God, yet He made Himself
of no reputation and took upon Him
the form of a servant, and was found
in the likeness of the flesh and suf-
fered death, even the death of the
cross" There is a notion Of pre-ex-
istence. That is Paul's conception of
the unlisted asset, that p%re-existing
glory with God. That does not an
swer the question, but it answers
something. He did what David never
did. He took on Him our form and
went back to accomplish the finish OF
the work. In the Hebrews we read
that He was the express image OF
God and "by Him all things consisted
and held together" So you lave the
hypothesis Of His being larger than
David's son, who took on Him the
form Of David's son. Then we find
Jesus speaking with authority. 1T
hath been said by men of old time,
do so and so, but I say unto you do so
and So" Again, Il came down from
My Father, and all authority is given
unto Me and all judgment is given
unto Me that men may honor the Son
as they honor the Father" and "he
that hath the Father hath the Son;
he that hath not the Son hath not
God" It does not solve all the mys-
terry, but it tells US Of a certain ele-
ment of divinity about Him which no
son of David v had.
Then again He says that whosoever
believes and follows Jesus will be
with God. That does not solve the
mystery, but it tells us that so far as
God can teach mankind He teaches
US by His Son Jesus Christ.
You say: Il am handicapped, be.
cause people calling themselves
Christians have not Christianity
enough to distinguish them from the
rest of the world" Confine yourself
to those whom you will recognize as
genuine Christians, those whom you
would like to have pray with you
when you are sick. Ask these people,
How is it you have managed to over
come where others have failed? How
is it that you have kept straight for
ward with a eheerful'sp spirit where 9TH
ers were discouraged? And they
will tell you this: "Since l believed
in Jesus, a strange inside power has
come to me that has changed my af.
fections, that has opened my eyes,
strengthened my courage, nursed my
virtues, nerved my will and has kept
me s~teadfastly going toward the ideal
that I regret I have followed so far
away" I say that such testimony is
the strongest testimony that this Son
of David has an asset Of power that
He imparts to His people to give them
victory.
This is the New Testament expla.
nation: He vas the Son Of God and
had in Himself certain Unreasonable
assets of divineness that belonged to
Him, not because He was the Son Of
David, but because He came to be
the Son of David from on high, and
because of that he has a claim to our
obedience and worship and conf.
dence.
What sort of a Christ do you want?
You need a saviour. What do you
want Him to do? First, to forgive
you. Second, to purify your heart.
Third, to give you grace. Can any.
body do it except it be the Son of
David to come in touch with you, and
the Son of God to have power? I
have spoken these words to you this
morning that you might believe, not
only that Jesus is the Christ, but that
Christ is the Son of the Living God,
and that believing in Him ye also
might have life.