The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1935-05-18

of Great Britain, BENJAMIN Ufs
raeh, Earl of Beaconsfeld had t.
do so with the words .'.of Grea
Britain and Ireland Queen, Em
press of India, Defender. of tn
Faithp That faith was the Chris
tan faith; and it iseStill marching
/ on. -'==ensat,.N ns 'als St',,2i
| II might stop right here witt
the presentation of ( Christianity
| The figure of that immortal being
on the Cross is enough for any in
telligent audience. But in apply
ing the system Christ taught. anC
for which He died to the problems
known today as t-tsocial security,
it may ben wise to summarize
briefly what l. deem the cardinal
points of that system. Let rs first
get the Charter. or Constitution.
1t was enuneiated. by its foun-
der when He preached His FIRST
sermon at Nazareth, where He
lived as a boy. A few preachers
may not exactly like to start at
home. Perhaps there would De
some reasons for embarrassment.
Jesus had none. He went into the
synagogue and / ask you to listen
to His text:
1.-THE, spirit of the Lord is upon
Me because He hath anointed Me
to preach the Gospel to the poor;
He hath Sent Me to proclaim re-
lease to the captives, and recov-
erisg of sight to the blind; to set
at liberty them that are bruised;
to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord" .-
Consider those words = good
tidings to the poor, release to the
captives, sight for the blind, men
tally and physically, liberty Tor
the "under-privileged," a new era
for mankind. Never in this world
was there so much in so, few
words. Good tidings to the poor
i see David Livingstone telling
the inhabitants of Manyema I'M
der the yokes of the Arabs that
deliverancc was nigh; | see re-
lease to the captives-l see the
neople of Paris battering down
the walls of the Bastile and re-
leasing the victims of Bourbon
oppression who had been so long
ir1mured they could not see their
way out, and leading them gently
out into the blessed sunshine OF
Heaven; sight for the blind
see the skillful surgeon in London
operating on the King of Siam IN
a Christian hospital, and hear
Martin Luther say, 1.-The scales
have fallen from my eyes, and
now | see the Lord; Liberty for
the bruised-I see Roget de Lisfe
penning the song that set Europe
ATTIRE "Ye sons of freedom
awake to glory; the acceptable
year, see Jesus Himself sweep
ing his eyes over the scene Of
His ruined country, and then lift
ing them to the wider horizon of
a world stepped in sin and sodden
with grief, and then / see Chris
tan General Allenby carrying the
waters of the Nile in a pipeline
to Jerusalem that a Christian
might present to thes Jews once
more their Promised Land; and /
know that the voice of the Lone
Galilean is now heard in Judea
once morel
What are the essential doc
trines that He taught? There have
been many perversions, half
truths, trivial refinements, unnee-
essary dogmas, all sorts of barna-
cles on the Christian ship as she
plowed through the ignorance
and the folly of the centuries, and
it is to be said that we must go
to the fountain to get the pure
water of life. 1 hesitate to choose
what seems to me the few essen
tial doctrines, but it may clarity
application if ! state that there
are at least three-repentance,
regeneration, and perseverance.
Repentance with the forgiveness
of sin is assuredly an indispensa-,
bic requisite to Christian faith. 1t
is the initial step. The Pharisees'
Jealousy was famed into white
heat when Jesus assured the ar
ring woman that her sins were
forgiven. The modern Pharisee
is still of the same old attitude.
Some men find it harder to for
give others than Almighty God
does to forgive them. But the
quality of mercy is not strained /;
it still "falleth like the gentle
rain upon the place beneath"
"Ye must be born again" was
told to a representative of the
culture of the Jews, such as still
remained to them, when Nicode-
mus was seeking light. Christ did
not hesitate to tell unpleasant
truths when they were. absolutely
necessary. To this Hebrew arts.
toerat He plainly set forth the
hardest doctrine for certain types
of aristocrats to accept. They, are
apt to ask for soothing syrup
mixed with their, religion, Jesus
demanded. "a new creature, II
does not matter whether you be.
lieve in the fall. of man or wheth.
er you regard him as slowly
slOughing off the imperfection in.
cident to a lowly origin, the re
suit is the same-the human racs
finds the trail of the serpent over
them all. They must be changed
OF they will perish. The phenom