The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-06-15
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON Ely
REV. F. D. WALTER.
Theme: Power Of the Cross.

Brooklyn. N. Y.-Sunday the Rev.
Frank Dwell Walter, who was APP
pointed from South Norwalk, Conn,
to the pastorate of Simpson M. E.
Church to succeed the Rev. DR.. W. J.
Thompson, preached in the morning
his opening sermon. His subject was
The Power of the Uplifted Cross"
The text was from John 1892: And
l, if I be lifted up, will draw all men
unto Me-" Mr.. Walter said:
This text contains the pith and
marrow of Christianity. The whole
world has stood before the uplifted
Cross and felt the magnetism of
Christ. His power eludes scientists.
battles philosophers and defeats The
invisible powers of darkness. Many
of His enemies have been willing to
concede that He was a good man, but
they can find no explanation of how
He opens the eyes of the blind, makes
bad men good, lifts the nations off
their hinges and leads them to new
ideals. Ralph Waldo Emerson puts
Jesus upon a plane with Caesar, Plato
and Shakespeare, but Charles Lamb
is not content with this characterize
ton. He beautifully states the case
when he says, IF Shakespeare should
enter this room, we would all greet
him. If Jesus Christ entered we
would all fall down in alteration and
seek to touch the hem of His gar
ment." No theory which fails to
recognize the divinity of Jesus Christ
can ever explain His life and work
among the children Of men.
These words become the idle utter
ance of a visionary dreamer II we do
not premise them with Christ's d.
vinitv. He would lie classed as a
self-opinionated boaster and imposter
of the first order. What would we
think of a young man, thirty years
old, uttering, such words as these
found in the text? How did He pro-
pose to do this wonderful work? By
death upon the Cross. Is 1t reason
able to suppose that He could do more
by His death than He could by Els
life? What human power could He
command that was able to accomplish
such a task? Christ came from q
small nation. He had no armies to
carry out His plans. His people had
no great philosophers, law makers
or reformers with which to undertake
this great work. They were practi-
cally dead in the literary world at
that time. Reformers ordinarily do
not come from q nation with such a
standing.
Think for a moment of the Roman
power with which Christ had to con-
tend. Rome was the conqueror OF
nations. She was mistress o. the sea.
She had met Greece and shattered her
armies. She had swept down upon
Egypt and carried away her glory.
She had marched north and destroyed
the Mortimer and the German tribes.
She had made both the East ard the
West tremble at the tread of her
armies. What could a mere human
Christ hope to accomplish against
such a power? That He did purify
society, uplift the nations and bring
in a reign of righteousness proves
conclusively that He must be divine.
Let us view Christ in history. 1t
Is a good thing for us occasionally to
close our Bibles and stand out under
the vaulting arch of history and be-
hold what Christina a done. We cannot
study the great problem of history
without coming face to face with
Jesus Christ. The movements Of his
tory are an enigma until we put
Christ in the centre of them. There
was a tiny seed planted long ago in
Eden. 1t grew until its branches
spread over many nations. Its leaves
were for the healing Of the nations,
it's bud of promise so beautifully
manifested in the Old Testament
burst forth into full bloom In the
life and work of Jesus Christ in the
New Testament, until to-day all peo-
pies delight themselves in the sweet
fragrance and purifying power OF
Jesus Christ and His Gospel.
The picture of Jesus with His dis
ciples never grows old. We can be-
hold Him training them in the secrets
of the kingdom Of heaven. They
walk I'D and down Palestine in COM
pany with this wonderful man and
behold the marvellous miracles which
He performs. They come to worship
Him as the Son OF God Whers He
disappears from their vision, they
tarry at Jerusalem until the Spirit
descends upon them, and then they
go forth to preach Christ and break
the bread of life to the world. Three
thousand are converted in one day at
Pentecost. They make the lame to
walk, the bind to see, the deaf to
hear and the poor to rejoice that the
Gospel is preached to them. Martyrs
walk c~ourageously to the stake and
die shouting Christ's praises. Heroic
spirits spring into the Christian arena
and rejoice that they are counted
worthy to suffer in His name. One
hundred years after the death OF
Jesus, Justin bears this testimony:
There is not a single race of men,
whether Barbarians or Greeks, OF
whatever they may be called, nomads
or'vagrants, or herdsmen dwelling IN
tents, among whom prayers and CIV
ing CT thanks are not offered through
the name of the crucified Jesus"
The onward march of Christ has
continued until He has encircled the
globe. He will never cease His work
until He has traversed the highest
mountain, entered the remotest island
of the sea, Illuminated the darkest
continent and reached the last nation
with the blessed new of the glorious
Gospel. Missionaries are flying into
all parts of the world. They are
crossing every sea, climbing every
mountain, entering every city where
sin Testers and bliSta-S in human