The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1909-12-24
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. JOHN RUMPSTONE.
Theme: Light of the World.

was, w nGGC2 came IHo Light Oh the
World?" The texts were from Mat
thew 4:16: The people that sat in
darkness, saw a great light" John
SIP: Jesus spake unto them, say
ing, am the light OF the world" and
Hebrews IL, 2, 5: God hath
spoken to Us in His Son the
effulgence of His glory and the very
image of His substance" DR.. Hump
stone said:
These three Scriptures have unity
as answer to the question which is
our subject. The land in which, and
the people to whom, Jesus came sat
in darkness, a darkness 50 deep that
it could be described with adequacy
only as the region and shadow Of
DEATH In such surroundings sud-
denly appeared one, sane and poised
and effectual, who said, L am the
light of the world" How are we to
account for such an emergence? Is
darkness the source of light; provin-
cialism the parent OF universally;
narrowness Of view the progenitor of
worldwide outlook and sympathy?
Is supreme spiritual vitality the issue
to be expected from moral torpor?
Could Journalism and phariseeism be-
get the superbly free sincerities Of
Jesus? Does death bring forth life?
Can He who called and has approved
Himself "The Light Of the World" be
accounted for my human heredity and
environment?
To such questions enlightened faith
has ever had but one answer. 1t is
the answer of the New Testament.
The supremely good and perfect gift
is from above and came down from
- T s-y,4 to,
darkness at all. Gods Son is the
effulgence of His Fathers glory, the
very image OF His substance. There
fore is He the Light of the World.
Such, in outline, are the thoughts
now briefly to be expanded.
Palestine cannot account for Jesus.
That is the conviction which visit to
the land, conventionally called "holy,'
leaves within an open mind. II it is
to be held holy, the hallowing is due
to Him and it's associations with Him.
He conferred upon it distinction and
pre-eminence which it did not, could
not, impart to Him. 1t everywhere
illuminates and illustrates what He
said. 1t nowhere and in no wise eX-
plains what He was. One has a con-
tinual pleasure in tracing the paral-
lels between the Lords ministry and
His environment. The land and the
gospels are the counterparts Of each
other. At every step some word, or
image, of His flashes into the mind
with new sense Of it's truth and beau
ty. And this scarcely at all in connec-
ton with the Identification of partic-
ular sites or places. On the contrary,
the mind recoils with disgust from the
effort to fix with eXactitude the spot
presumptively sacred, because of the
degradations to which the supposed
Identification leads. There is as much
superstition in Palestine to-day as
there is in India, and it is quite as
baleful. Mans purpose to localiZe
Jesus is the defeat of his chief intent.
His field is the world" If He were
now to visit the land of His earthly
nativity, He would denounce with
righteous anger the vain superstitions
which defile the place CT His transient
ministry. AS of cid He swept the
traders from the temple courts, so
would He drive away the crowds that
cluster about the idols and The shrines
their own hands have fashioned,
thinking to do Him honor. One can
imagine how His tones would thrill
as He reaffirmed His declaration,
neither in this mountain, nor in Jeru-
salem, shall We worship the Father
Ye worship that which ye know not
God is a spirit and they
that worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and in truth"
But true as this is, and keen as
are the pain and establishment the
fact occasions, still more exquisite
and satisfying is the sense of veri-
similitude as, New Testament in
hand, one wanders over Judean hills,
through Samaritan villages, over Els
draelon's fertile plain, till he finds
himself at last af1oat on Galilee's
lake. HE is not here, but risen;
and yet His spirit permeates all. One
breathes the air He breathed; one
sees the sights He saw; one feels the
thrill He felt, and still his compass
sions are awakened as one looks upon
the people Of the land. Nothing could
be more perfect than the accord be-
tween landscape and narrative, apt
metaphor and obvious fact, persist
ing custom and moral appeal, physical
object and spiritual suggestion.
These are His flowers, that His city
set on the hilltop; there flew the birds
that taught Him Gods care. This
barren wild is the physical reflex. Of
His souls testing. Yonder snow
height, flashing in the sunlight, is the
very symbol, whether it were the
scene or not, of His TRANSPORTATION.
To-day His sower goes forth to sow;
the women He described are yet toll
ing at the mill or bearing aloft their
waterpots The fishermen He COM
panioned are there, drawing their
nets; and even as we are busy watch
ing them, such sudden windstorm as
He quoted sweeps down the valley
between the hills and threatens to
overturn out boat Yes! 1t is good
for faith to visit the land, however
much credulity may have defiled it,
however sadly superstition has en-
crusted it with unrealities. But most
of all is it good for faith to see the
actual environment of Jesus, that the
mind may have sense of the contrast
between it and Him. 1t is so small;
He is so great. It's color tones are so
neutral; He is so resplendent. 1t is
so Oriental He is so cosmopolitan.
1t is so limited; He is so universal.
1t is SO sordid; He is so ethereal. 1t
is foul with uncomfortable filth; He
is so pure and clean. 1t is so eccle-
siastical; He is so spiritual. 1t is so
distinctly Hebraic; He is so decisive
ly and inclusively human. These con-
trasts drive the mind at first to Won
der that such a personality could
emerge in such surroundings. AS
their cogency completes itself they
draw forth to fresh reverence ans
impel the soul to worship Him, who
said to His contemporaries, I'VE arc
from beneath, | am from above; ye
are Of this world, l al? not OF tdls
world"
Spend, then, brief moment or two
in contemplation Of this self-con-
sciousness CT Jesus out of which is
sued continuously that stream OF self
assertion Ct which one single speci-
men is before US: ! am the light OF
the world" Sometimes such utter
ances of orr Lord have been denom;-
mated "c!aims." But as New Tesla
ment writer says: He counted notthe
being on an equality with God thing
to be grasped at" To Him these eX-
pressions OF His prercgatiye needed
no demonstration. Such utteTancas