From far-off Australia comes this sermon by Rev. R. Ditterich. What more fitting climax in honor of Christ, whose worshipers belt the globe? “Christ is All,” a pean of praise, which has been sung both sides the sea, and published in three Hymnals and over sixty song books, will close this volume, dedicated to the glory of God.
Text: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”—Matt. 16.16.
Jesus asked a great question, and Peter made a great reply. No prophet, no priest, no king, no patriarch of Israel had ever been greeted in such fashion. Of nobody else in the world are these words spoken today. How pure must have been the life, how majestic the personality, how wise the utterances, how divine the deeds, that compelled this thrilling answer from the apostle’s lips. Surely something really wonderful beyond all previous Hebrew experience was necessary before Jews could bring themselves to acknowledge any man, however exalted, as divine. The miracle of winning such a confession is testimony to the sovereign greatness of Jesus.
We, too, have to answer the same question, and there are facts which lead us to the same great confession of faith.
FIVE TREMENDOUS FACTS
1. Jesus, a peasant, is hailed today as King by people speaking 750 languages and dialects, in all climes, and of all classes. People of every color raise to Him the song of praise and crown Him “Lord of all.” There is nothing like this in all history. No other has ever approached this degree of sovereignty. His kingdom pervades the world. It is a fact that challenges thought. No world conqueror has ever had such an empire. Beside this the royalty of men like Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon, and more modern aspirants is shadowy and ghostlike. His is an abiding and a spiritual dominion.
2. Though an unlettered peasant, Jesus has become the world’s greatest teacher. For all our best knowledge of God, for the revelation of divine Fatherly love, for our highest ideals of virtue, for man’s most glorious hope, people on all sides look to Him. Not only men of the highest rank, but men of the richest culture sit at His feet. The purest souls sit at His feet. His golden rule will never be supplanted. His name has become the synonym for all that is true and gracious. To be Christ-like must ever remain man’s highest ideal.
3. He was a Jew, and yet He founded the brotherhood of man. In His day Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. But Jesus had. Jews were fenced off from all other nations in the most exclusive way. But His heart was all-inclusive, and He broke down all walls that separated class from class as well as nation from nation. His thought was universal. His spirit was international. He founded a kingdom based, as Napoleon said, not on force but on love, and love is universal. It leaps over mountains, it spans oceans. It speaks in all tongues. The true League of Nations and the real disarmament are part of His plan for the world. He was son of Israel only incidentally. Essentially He was Son of Man—the true brother of all mankind.
4. His life was short, but it changed the world. No one ever did so much in so short a time. At the most his years numbered thirty-three years, and of these only a little less than three were devoted to public ministry, and these were spent in a conquered province of the Roman Empire. He was killed by aliens at the request of His own countrymen. And yet time is reckoned from His birth. The very terms B.C. and A.D. have great significance. He divides not only time, but also space. The nations are Christian and non-Christian, which is about equal to saying, civilized and barbarous. One has only to think of the ideals and practices of pagan people before they received the influences of Christianity to see the difference He makes everywhere. No tribe on earth was ever lifted from savagery by the influence of Socrates, no crime-soaked soul was ever saved by his name and yet Socrates was the wisest and noblest of the Greeks. He lived for seventy years and for forty years taught the young men in the most cultured age and among the most intellectual people in the world. But Jesus has lifted cannibals and washed the souls of men who were steeped in blackest vice. The rationalist Lecky said that the simple record of His three brief years of active life had done more to regenerate and soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philosophers and than all the exhortations of moralists.
5. He was crucified, and made of the cross a throne from which to rule the hearts of men. The cross was a gallows far more hideous and cruel than the hangman’s gallows. It was the symbol of crime, of shame, of degradation. He transformed it. It is today the symbol of love, of purity, of virtue. His dream came true. Once only did a man dream that by dying upon a cross would He teach men to say that God is love, that love is universal, that there is hope for sinners, and that the worship of God must be spiritual. This is the miracle of the ages. The Crucified has become the King.
Here then are five tremendous facts. They are unique. If only one were true it would make Him remarkable, but they are all true.
THE MEANING OF THE FACTS
What shall we say of this Man? He accepted Peter’s tribute. He allowed Jews to take up stones to stone Him for claiming to be Son of God. He was conscious of being divine. He forgave sins, which is God’s prerogative. He promised rest to the weary soul, which the Old Testament set forth as God’s own gift. He said that He came to give life eternal, although God is the giver of life. He said that none could know the Father except through Him. He spoke to God of the glory which they shared together before the world was. Just in proportion as men have acknowledged His claims in their hearts have they found peace with God and conquest over sin and the fear of worldly evil. As we consider all these things we are led to repeat Peter’s confession, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” for God the Father’s face shines upon us through Him and heaven is opened to us as we look upon Him. In the heart of this the purest of men was the clear, constant consciousness that He was divine. He always spoke and acted consistently with this consciousness. Unique in character, He made claims that would have stamped any other man as an impostor. Humility and majesty dwell together in Him. He could say, “I am meek and lowly in heart,” and also “I and my Father are one.” He would call men His “brethren” and yet accept from them the words, “My Lord and my God.” This wonderful character came of a race that had for ages looked for the coming of a Messiah, and whose prophetic literature was burdened with this hope. After his death his disciples who were heartbroken and cowed became inspired with a heroism that cheerfully faced martyrdom. All these facts are shining lights that point to the truth which Peter confessed. That truth is enshrined in the triumphant words of the Te Deum, “Thou are the King of glory, O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.”
And the Christ of history, the exalted Son of God, is a living Presence with us today. Not remote but ever near, He walks by our side in all life’s experiences. Not only enthroned in heavenly glory
“But warm, sweet, tender, even yet
A present help is He,
And faith has still its Olivet
And love its Galilee.”
Such is our wonderful Saviour, a Friend with human heart of sympathy who has trod our pathway and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities; a Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep in an all-atoning sacrifice; an Advocate who represents us with all-prevailing power before the throne of the Judge Eternal; a Champion who Can break the power of canceled sin and set the prisoner free; a Victor who can smite death’s threatening wave before us; a Lord in whom we see the beauty and glory of the face of God. We are called upon to confess Him with lip and life. To us to live is Christ. Knowing Him we have eternal life. We have all the soul needs in Jesus. There is no substitute for Him. None can share His throne in our hearts. The Kingdom is His who is the Christ—the anointed King. Our joy is in Him, where all fullness dwells. We can say with Charles Wesley, “Thou, O Christ, art all I want,” and our daily life should be one of close, constant communion with Christ.
“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.”—Pet. 11:7.
W. A. WILLIAMS, by per.
Effectiva as a Soprano Solo, Ad lib.
1. I entered once a home of care,
For age and penury were there,
Yet peace and joy withal;
I asked the lonely mother whence
Her helpless widowhood’s defence.
She told me, “Christ was all.”
Christ is all, all in all,
She told me “Christ was all”.
2. I stood beside a dying bed,
Where lay a child with aching head,
Waiting for Jesus’ call,
I marked his smile, ’twas sweet as May,
And as his spirit passed away,
He whispered, “Christ is all.”
Christ is all, all in all,
He whispered “Christ is all.”
3. I saw the martyr at the at the stake,
The flames could not his courage shake,
Nor death his soul appall,
I asked him whence his strength was giv’n,
He looked triumphantly to Heav’n,
And answered “Christ is all.”
Christ is all, all in all,
He answered, “Christ is all.”
4. I saw the gospel herald go,
To Afric’s sand and Greenland’s snow,
To save from Satan’s thrall:
No home nor life he counted dear,
Midst wants and perils owned no fear.
He felt that “Christ is all.”
Christ is all, all in all,
He felt that “Christ is all.”
5. I dreamed that hoary time had fled;
The earth and sea gave up their dead,
A fire dissolved this ball;
I saw the church’s ransom’d throng,
I heard the burden of their song.
’twas “Christ is all in all.”
Christ is all, all in all,
’Twas Christ is all in all.
6. Then come to Christ, oh! come today.
The Father, Son, and Spirit say;
The Bride repeats the call;
For he will cleanse your guilty stains,
His love will sooth your weary pains,
For “Christ is all in all.”
Christ is all, all in all,
For “Christ is all in all.”
All books are sourced from Project Gutenberg