The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-01-19

Any other tone would have been out
of keeping with his self-knowledge.
"I know" He said, whence I came
and whittier I CO." And this knowl-
| edge was of that kind no other could
| share with Him. 1t was self-knowl-
edge. "Ye know not whence I come
| or whittier I CO." Standing in that.
narrow sphere, among souls so want
| ing insight, speaking to an age that
had no longer within itself either the
possibilities or the realization Of Wis
ion, Jesus knew God as by the PARTIES
| of His own life. He knew man as
knowing not his features, but his
heart-what was in him. He knew
the world. not as the traveller knows
it, but as the Creator perceives 1t.
His thoughts we're Of nations more
| than of His nation; Of the world
| rather than of His birthplace. He
! spoke with a note Of authority in
every .utterance, while His contem-
~poraries were babbling bu: of tradi-
| ton. Their eyes were in the back of
! their heads; and such narrow, blinded
eyes at that. His face was toward the
future! All time He had for His pros
pect. He spoke Of the end of the age
with the same calm gertrude as char
acterized His insight into conditions
then existing. He was in attitude, n
| %utterance, in outlook, in tho sublime
con 1dence of His expectations, in the
precision of His foresight, the Son of
the Eternal. He saw as in :. mirror all
the ages and claimed them for His
own. He held toward men an atti-
tude Of supremacy which was the
correlate of this sense Of Himself. He
babe them como to Him, believe in
Him, follow Him, honor Him. He
commanded their service, accepted
their worship, declared that when
they called Him Master and Lord they
said we'll, for so He was. Nor are
these assertions Of Himself mere dis
jecta membra. They are the very
fibre Of the revelation He makes.
They are unified by Himself into a
program. He was not merely His
own subject. He made Himself the
subject of His messengers. He looked
forward to the realization of a King
dom Of the Spirit, of which He Him
self was to be the King. Into this
kingdom, as before Him at last for
decisive judgment, all nations were
to be gathered. Every creature" was
His objective. AS to no other who
ever lived or taught, everything hui
man was germane to Him, and fell
within the scope of His purpose.
Himself the Way, the Truth, the Life,
He knew and said that He came to
bring and be the Life of men: BE
cause I live We shall live also" In
Him was life and the life was the
light of men. And the light shined
in the darkness; and the darkness ap-
pretended it not.
: Now such a phenomenon Of being
and the reality of being has to be
accounted for. But how? Source
must equal issue. BY so much as the
stream is strong and free and full, by
that same measure it's spring must
be high. Cause must be adequate to
effect. No insignificant cause ever yet
produced so t~ranscendent an effect.
Ask yourself the question Jesus urged
upon His associates: What think We
| of Christ? Whose Son is He?" Can
Joseph, the Galilean carpenter. be the
actual. as he was the putative, father
of such a son? Must not the Father
Of such an One have in Himself the
infnitudes, the magnitudes, the uni
versailles which characterize the
| Sons life and service? Who but God
could beget such a Son? And every
word of Jesus as to His W origin
bears out the assertions Of the later
New Testament: II and My Father
are one." "He that hath seen Me
hath seen the Father" mo man
hath seer the Father, save He that Is
from God; He hath seen the Father"
These are the uniform and character
istic words of Jesus when speaking OF
His origin. He knew that He was
come from God and that He was 60
ing to God. For this cause they
sought to kill Him, because He called
God His OWE Father (that is, His
Father in a unique and entirely indi-
vidual sense) making Himself equal
with God. This, then, IL the one,
only, adequate explanation of Jesus:
God hath spoken unto us In His Son,
who is the effulgence Of Gods glory;
who bears the very impress Of His
essential life. Thence came the Light
Of the World! Bathed in I'll stream
ing radiance, we are drawn, as chill
dren Of the Resurrection, to our Mas
ter's feet. Our adorations is the
ecstasy of Thomas: my Lord and
my God"