The Penn's Grove record., 1910-05-27
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV F. D. WALTER.
Theme: Power of the Cross.

SuuTCu " SuCCS6u LuG ItSf. LII. W. y.
Thompson, preached in the morning
his opening sermon. His subject was
1.-THE Power of the Uplifted Cross"
The text was from John 1892: And
I, If | 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, eff 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 If we do
not premise them with Christ's di-
vinity. He would be classed as a
self-opinionated boaster and imposter
of the first order. What would we
{b{Dlz of n uOrpy mon thirty ware
old, uttering such words IS these
found in the text? How did He pro-
pose to do this wonderful work? By
death upon the Cross. Is it reason
able to suppose that He could do more
by His death than He could by Ills
life? What human power could He
command that was able to accomplish
such a task? Christ came from a
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 dc
not come from a nation with such a
standing.
Think for a moment of the Roman
power with which Christ had to con-
tend. Rome was the conqueror or
nations. She was mistress of 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 and 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
c~onclusively that He must be divine.
Let US view Christ in history: 1t
Is a good thing for is occasionally to
close our Bibles and stand out under
the vaulting arch of history and be-
hold what Christhas done. We cannot
study the great problem of history
without coming face to a 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,
its bud of promise SO beautifully
manifested in the Old Testament
burst forth into full bloom in n
life and work of Jesus Christ in q
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 up and down Palestine in COM
pany with this wonderful man n
behold the marvellous miracles whlcn
He performs. They come to worship
Him as the Son of God. When 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 10
walk. the blind to see, the deaf to
hear and the poor to rejoice that the
GOSPEL is preached to them. Martyrs
walk courageously to the stake n
| 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 rae of men,
whether Barbarians or Greeks, or
whatever they may be called, nomads
or Migrants, or herdsmen dwelling IN
| tents. among whom prayers and CIV
ing of thanks are not offered through
the name of the crucified Jesus"
The onward march Of Christ has
continued until He has encircled h
| 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 news 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 blisters in human
hearts, placing the cross by the side
OF every throne, and ere lung Christ
will win this whole world to Himself.
What heroism Christ inspires in the
hearts of His followers! You re-
member what Garibaldi said to his
| followers when he was trying to re-
| cruit his army: Come! I offer you
terrible fatigue, long marches, scant
rations, hard fighting, wounds, dis
| ease, death, but I offer you liberty
and victory!" In this same spirit
does Jesus Christ invite strong men
and women to help Him win this
world to Himself. Thousands and
thousands are fiocking to the stand
ard and giving their lives willingly
for the coming of His kingdom.
The supreme reason why Christ
uplifts the world is that He does what
no other person can do. He offers
divine forgiveness to every sin-sick
soul. Who can measure the meaning
of that great sacrifice upon the cross?
What relation does this death bear
to each of our lives? If we place the
same meaning upon this fact which
Jesus did, we shall count it the CEN
trail point of all history. The o
came into His vision when He was a
mere child, and it never passed from
RI ..n4sl H. xrn n-r.osHn1 rrnnn