The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-12-08
THE PULPIT.
a BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. |. M. HALDEMAN.
Theme: Scminaries 4 Menace.

eQCe THAI LdAeu the SopeSteJ
building, the Rev. DR.. /. M. Halse-
delivered the second sermon on
1.-The Signs of the Tire" His sub
iect was: 1.-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 defied the king, shut up
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
rifce, visited terrific judgment upon
the land, is now to- be taken up to
heaven by a whirlwind, attended by
celestial horsemen and chariots OF
fire. Elisha, his successor in the pro-
phetic Office, accompanies him on the
tourney from Gilgal to Bethel, from
Bethel to Jericho, where there was a
theological seminary, and the sons OF
the prophets (the ministerial students
of. that day. said to Elisha: Know
est thou that the Lord will take away
thy master from thy head this day."
And he answered.: Yea, 1'knoW II.
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 1 shall do for thee
before I be taken away" And Elisha
said: IT pray thee, let a double por-
ton of thy spirit be upon me- ana
he said: Thou has asked a hard
thing: nevertheless, If thou see me
when I am taken away. it shall be SO
unto thee, but if not, it shall not be
So" And it came to pass as they still
went on, behold, there appeared a
chariot and horses Of fire, and parted
them both asunder. and Elijah went
up by a whirlwind into heaven. And
Elisha saw it and cried: my father,
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
20 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. ibid / not say unto you,
Go not?'"
To-day we have the same story.
The passing through Jordan typlties
our Lords death and resurrection,
for Jordan, in Scripture, sets forth
Judgment, and is a type of the cross
of Christ, where with an agony that
rent the rocks and drew the veil OF
midnight darkness " the face OF
nature, He bore the judgment OF sin
In His own body on the tree, crying
out: my God, my God, why didst
Thou forsake mel" Christ came not
to be an example or a teacher, but to
be a sacrifce-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-puTger. the risen
man in the heavens in bodily pres
ence. The spirit of Elijah resting
upon Elisha shows the spirit OF Christ
incaruated 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. o.
Our present-day t~heologians are
like the t%heologians of Jericho Of old.
They perceive the spirit Of Christ. but
repudiate 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 these things Of the spirit
of the natural man, these Jericho
of our modern seminaries
tell us are the o~utworkings of the
Spirit Of Christ in man. OF course,
they deny 4 bodily resurrection and
teach a gnostly Christ, instead OF n
who called to His disciples to handle
Me and see that I am flesh and bones,
and not a spirit as ye think and
who sat at meat with them, after His
resurrection, partaking of broiled fish
and honeycomb. AS the sous OF the
prophets of old sought to account Tor
the disappearance Of Elijah, so DO
our modern, up-to-date theologlans'
whether native born, or imported,
seek to account for the disappearance
Of Christ.
One would almost think that when
these learned men in the wisdom OF
this world" pass away, all knowledge
will perish with them. Some, like
Elisha, who was called from the ploW,
when confronted with the assertions
of "agreed scholarship" trained men,
tally and the assumptions of wise
men of Jericho, grow ashamed and
stumble and fall in power and be-
come paralyzed. We should repudl-
ate most earnestly those who attempt
to explain away the miraculous.
We should repudiate the preacher
-, rrofoccor in orr then1ouical inSti-
tutions who questions the bodily res
direction of Christ, the Virgin birth,
the physical ascension into heaven