Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-05-28
SUPREMACY AND DIETY OF the
CHRIST PROCLAIMED THROUGH
POWER GIVEN BY the father
Pastor Of St. Paurs Lutheran Church in Ser
mon on Christ, the Pre-Eminent," Says
That Christ Wrought His Works Because
Of Inherent Power Given Him Alone in
Heaven and Earth. n'

the devil, tempted in all points like
as we are, yet without sin. The
place, the time, the character of
the temptation were such as are
common to men. Tho striking
thing in Christ's temptation was
the tempter's recognition of Christ's
deity; he addressed Him--suggest-
ing a doubt, to be sure---as the
Son of God. 1t was the Divine
Sonship of Christ which was dis
tinct.
We go a step farther to think OF
Christ's ministry, of the power He
exercised. Consider Him as a
preacher. The Sermon on the
Mount is rightly spoken Of as one
of the greatest sermons He ever
delivered, yet we do not believe
Christ is the Son Of God because
OF His preaching. Others have,
by their preaching, won more con-
verts to God. Paul, Sturgeon,
Moody and others less prominent
have won more souls to the Lord
than Christ ever did by His preach
ing; we are thinking now of the
immediate effects OF His preach.
ing. Christ won comparatively
few followers during His ministry.
We cannot claim for Christ any
uniqueness because of the mere
exercise OF His power as preach
err. And the same might be said
of His power as. a miracle worker.
The popularity of Christ's minis
try lay not in theeeXerclse Of any
I,,f tn, 90
Others wrought nightly for God
in preaching, and miracle working,
by reason of derived power. Christ
wrought His works because of in
herent power. He is the source of
the power exercised by His follow
ers. 1t is Christ alone who can
say: All power is given to me In
heaven and earth.
Note His teachings. Christ was
constantly exposing Himself to
misunderstanding and misinter-
probation. He turned water into
wine at a wedding, an incident
which has been widely used by the
foes of prohibition to defend them
intoxicating drinks. Think of His
treatment of the woman taken III
adultery: very large majority of
Christian people of today would
have condemned Him for refusing
to condemn that Ginning woman,
had they been witnesses OF the
scene. II appeared to be a ques-
tionable procedure. And men have
gone to His sayings both to de-
fend and defeat militarism. 1t
seemed inconsistent in Him to say:
Resist not evil, and yet to spend
His whole life in resisting IL. The
Lords teachings are unique. unique
in their simplicity and in their pro-
fundity. unique in that they bring
God down to man, and lift man
closer to God, unique in their uni
versatility, embracing all stations
and conditions of life, appealing
and applying as we'll to the Occi-
dental as to Oriental. And yet
what is the distinctive feature OF
His teachings? 1t is found not
only in their wisdom, their perfec-
ton, their suitableness to the needs
of men; it is found in the spirit
of love that prompted and per-
meated them. This was a new
thing in the world. Love had been
enjoined before. but it had never
been exemplified. Fine PHILOSOPHERS
had been proclaimed by men, but
they had never been lived by the
teachers.
Observe the burdens He had to
bear. There was the poverty He
endured, but this is not an UNI
known experience in the lives Of
men. And there were the perse-
cutions heaped upon Him, bitter,
painful, cruel. There is n sense in
which His sufferings were incom-
parable; yet from the purely phys
ical standpoint it is probable others
have suffered as He suffered. Read
the catalogue of Paurs sufferinss
in Cor. II. Many Christians in
Rome had to undergo great tor
ture in the arena. The unique dis
tinction of Christ's sufferings is
found in the fact that He bore, as
no one else could ever bear, the
sins Of the world; and He bore
them with perfect obedience.
We need to consider but one
more event, the most important of
all, His death and resurrection.
We combine them because they
were inseparable: we cannot think
of His death without thinking of
His resurrection any more than
He could speak of the one with
out referring to the other. lie
was falsely tried, unjustly con-
demned. badly scourged but so
have others been. He was most
cruelty cruclfied: so were the two
malefactors. The popularity of
Christ's death, and that which en-
titles Him to our love and indy
ing devotion, was the purpose for
which He died, not the manner of
His death. Jesus Christ is the only
man who ever laid down His lifa
to conquer death. People have
voluntarily died for others, for
their country, to save friend, out
Of love of the Savior. But Christ
died that we might live.
What is it that makes Christ
supreme among the sons of men?
The fact that He Is in a distinct
and unique sense the Son of God,
with a name above every name,
and the only name under heaven
whereby men can be saved.