CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS

as Taught by

DR. E. C. BRAGG

III. THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST

A. The Scriptural Claims
1. The Prophetic Portrait of the Christ
2. Christ's Own Claims to Deity
3. Testimony of the Apostles
B. The Reasonable Grounds for Believing the Testimony
1. The Unique Character of Jesus Christ
a. His absolute sinlessness
b. The perfect poise of His character
2. The Miraculous Works of Christ
3. The Marvelous Teachings of Christ
a. The authority of His teaching
b. The transcendency of His teachings
c. The wisdom of His teachings
d. The flexibility of His teachings
e. The originality of His teachings
f. The vitality of His teachings

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Being1 a defense of the essential God-Hood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. INTRODUCTION:
The great battles of all the ages between belief and unbelief, between the true followers of Jesus and the skeptics and mere religionists has been round the person of Christ. The question Jesus asked the religious leaders of His day and one they couldn't answer, without accepting Him, still is the center of controversy. "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He."  Their answer, "David’s Son." Just a natural man, just an ordinary man. Christ then confounded them with the proposition which forms our first consideration in this topic of Evidence. "If He is David's Son, how then did David in spirit call Him Lord?" (Quoting from Psa. 110:1) and we read, "And no man was able to answer Him a word." Matt, 22:42-46

The battle, then, revolves around the question, "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?" This man who walked the byways of Palestine almost 2000 years ago who changed the course of history, Who  hanged the calendars of the world and made man to record the ages before His birth to creation, and from His birth to the present day, by His birthdays This man has stirred the religious thinkers of 2000 years, and billions of people. Was He just another religious thinker and founder of a new religion, like the many who proceeded Him, OR WAS HE OTHER THAN OTHER RELIGIOUS FOUNDERS? AND GOD MANIFEST IN HUMAN FORM?

We have considered in Christian Evidences the proposition that every effect must have an adequate cause. Our whole consideration of this phase of Christian Evidence shall be to ascertain the adequate cause for the Christ, to see that He cannot be explained upon any natural basis. To ascribe unto Him mere human parentage will not answer the question. The effect would rise so high above the cause as to be absurd.

And so it is utterly impossible to account for the Christ in any ordinary naturalistic way. We shall see that He is not as other men, but other than man. He stands alone in the midst of all men without a peer; not just head and shoulders above other men as

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do the great men of the times, but upon a pedestal. The exalted Historical figure out of all proportions to the natural causes which could possible contribute to His beings We reach again the question, "Whose Son is He?" "Is He just a men or is He God?"

In this Law of Cause and Effect, let us briefly consider the utter paradox of Christ. And He does present the greatest paradox in all the world, for He always ran counter to so much that is human in us.

Though Christ is admitted, even by His enemies, as the Greatest Character of all time, yet strange enough, He was not born of the great. He was born of a hated, despised, down-trodded people, meanly born in a stable, humbly bred, without letters, or educational advantages, a carpenter by profession. The greater portion of His life was spent in the obscure despised village of Nazareth, calling forth the proverb, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" He made no Scientific discovery, He wrote no book, He had no military campaign. He called no great men to follow Him, but gathered a mere handful of obscure ignorant fishermen to carry on His work, who at the hour of His greatest need, forsook Him and hid in utter rout and confusion. He had only one fatal moment of triumph which quickly turned into contempt and defeat. He was resisted by the rich, and openly opposed by the religious leaders. He was persecuted unto death by the priests, living a life as obscure as it was short, terminated by a death of unpitied infamy, with His enemies in complete triumph over Him, dying the contemptible death in association with two murderers and thieves. He was sealed away in a tomb under guard, by the priest with the assurance that His short usurpation was at an end, and no more trouble would come from His to their system. By every human standard, what was to become of Him? Of His Name? Of His Influence? He should have been speedily forgotten as the thousands before Him, but that is not the case with this Man."

"By the very means of the ignoble death upon the cross, Jesus ascended the throne high above any monarch, with a dominion any Caesar could envy. With millions of all ages serving, loving and obeying Him, until the Name of that humble Nazarene shines brilliantly like the noonday sun as the center of history. Without military might He has conquered nations. Without having built any church, yet the greatest religious temples in the earth have been reared in His Name, spiraling the

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heavens of millions of cities of earth. Having never written a book, yet more books have been written about Him than all the books of earth combined. Having never written a song, yet more songs have been written about Him than any other theme in the world. He has been the center of discussion for 2000 years, and literally changed the tides of nations and the whole course of history and religion."

While obscure in nationality, birth, life, and death on one of the smallest, most despised nations, yet He has had to be recognized by the great in all the world. Three-quarters of the population of the earth recognize His birth every day. When the lawyer, the letter writer, the military expert or any man signs the date to any document he recognizes the birthday of the Christ. A.D. Anno Domini - "The Year of our Lord," One thousand, nine hundred and sixty-five.

In the face of all these paradoxes, the question continues to come: "What think ye of Christ?" "Whose Son is He?" Will a mere human parentage, a natural origin suffice? Will it explain these things? Is the cause sufficient to explain the effect? There is only one answer that we can at which we can arrive in this discussion, it is the Biblical answer, that this Man was not only the Son of Man but in a unique sense was the Son of God, He was God manifest in the flesh, God incarnated in the virgin-born man Jesus, It is the only explanation which will fit all the facts in the case.

The answer of the modernist and the infidel will not do. They are compelled to compliment Him. They have to admit that He was the greatest, but how be it, just a man, The infidels such as Rousseau, Renan, Voltaire, Ingersol, and Bolingbroke have thrown their flowers at His feet, The modernist adds his flowers by stating "Jesus was the very flower of evolution."  Trying to saddle a monkey ancestry even upon the Son of God. They admit that He was great, yes, even probably the greatest that ever lived, though they insinuate that He could have been greater had He had the advantages of modern colleges. They say He would not have made some statements if He had lived today and had our enlightenment. But nevertheless, He was the greatest of all men. And by this line of reasoning they perform the miracle of making the river run uphill; lo, the river rises higher than its source, the cause is far greater than the effect.

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Not only does modernism and infidelity attack the deity of Christ, but every false religion and satanic device seeks the same denunciation. The grounds of the priestly crucifixion of Christ was "He being a man makest Himself to be God," A rejection of His deity. It is the same line of attack pursued ever since. You may trace the cults of the present day and come to an accurate estimate of their origin by ascertaining their belief in the person of Christ.

This, then, is the Gibraltar Rock of Christian Evidences. If a person is wrong here, it makes but little difference if they are right anywhere else. A faulty fait here makes for error all along the line. Contrary to this, a firm foundation here makes for firm faith on all other Scriptural truth.

Our entire subject in this section of Christian Evidence is to be occupied with this consideration of the effect of the Christ signifying a Divine cause. In considering the life, the works, and the teachings of Christ, the conviction Is too strong to dismiss that such a supernatural life demands a supernatural origin.

The Outline of this section of study shall be:

I. The Scriptural Claims and teachings concerning Christ’s Deity.

II. The Reasonable Grounds for believing these claims to be true.
1. His unique character
2. His miraculous works
3, His marvelous teachings

Another way of outlining it would be:

1. What Christ claimed for Himself, and the Bible accredits to Him, then a reasonable consideration of these claims.

It may he outlined by the various witnesses Christ called to Himself:
1. The witness of the Father, Jn. 5:36 (The Bible claims for His Deity).
2. The witness of His works. Jn. 5;36 (Testimony of miracles).
3. The witness of His words, Jn. 14:24 (His teachings).

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A. SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCES

We must examine the evidences to determine just what is claimed for Christ by the Scriptures and what He claimed for Himself. Then we can reason from those evidences to find out their probability and reason-ableness. The Scriptures furnish us with the only evidence.

I, THE PROPHETIC PORTRAIT OF THE CHRIST

As God has set prophecy up as the proof of His revelation, of the truthfulness of a prophet, so may we study this argument for the Deity of Jesus Christ on the basis of prophetic proof. Many of the arguments for the Deity of Christ can only be appreciated and studied by the learned mind, Only by diligence in study, and a philosophical mind, can one see the full weight of some arguments, but the prophetic seal lies upon the very surface. Any ordinary reader can see it and appreciate it. As one reads the Old Testament there Is gradually unfolded unto him the picture of a coming Messiah, More and more minute do the prophecies of the coming One become, Ho can trace the whole history of the Coming One, from His birth, its manner, place, time, and circumstance, through the place of His early life, His baptism, ministry and every small detail of His death and resurrection. Then when we turn over to the Gospel narratives and read the history of Christ, we find it fitting perfectly into the prophetic Christ, Thus without leaving the Bible, we compare two portraits and the mind leaps to the Divinely intended conclusion., the prophetic utterances must have been Divine and the person Who fulfills the prophecies must have been Divine. This is the argument that Christ used, also the Apostles.

For illustration:

Christ to the two on the Emmaus Road, "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Peter on the day of Pentecost used the prophecies, specially David, to prove the Messiah ship of Christ, So all the great sermons of Peter and Paul. Apollo, the wonderful preacher, "Mightily convinced the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ." The Messiah promised in The Old Testament.

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No wonder Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me." and "In the volume of the book it is written of Me." And the testimony of Revelation. "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of Prophecy."

Christ Himself divided all the prophecies of Himself into two divisions. Those concerning His suffering and those concerning His glory --"Ought not Christ to have suffered that He might enter into His Glory?"
 
We might subdivide those two Into two more each. All the prophecies of Christ might be divided into four.

A. Those dealing with His suffering or humiliation.
     1. His humanity-human lineage, and birth.
     2. His sufferings, death, resurrection, atonement.
B. Those dealing with His Glory, or exaltation.
     1. His Deity, divine lineage, His Godhead.
     2. His exhalation, His reign, and Coming Glory.

Just to quote a few of the many which show this coming One to be supernatural ... Isaiah is the Prophet who distinctly gives both the suffering and glory that should follow. The first part of Isaiah is concerned mostly with the Glory. The Deity of Christ. As in Isa. 7:14, "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His Name Immanuel", that is, "God with us." Isa. 9:6 "For unto us a child is born (but) unto us a Son is given, (here is the natural birth but supernatural incarnation) and the government shall be on His shoulders and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father (Ancient of Days), the Prince of Peace." Here is all the glory of birth, of exaltation and reigning.

The last part of Isaiah is concerned with the suffering of Christ, You might wonder why Isaiah is reversed from Christ's order, Christ allowed suffering to enter into His glory, while Isaiah gives the glory then the suffering, But he wrote before Calvary. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah correspond to the 39 books of the Old Testament and they were more of His Glory. But notice the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Full of suffering, the substitution, the agony of Christ, The last 27 Chapters of Isaiah - correspond to the 27 books of the New Testament - when we see more of Christ glory.

So when Christ said, "The Father Himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me." Jn. 5:37. The same Father Who confessed Christ as His Son at the Baptism also bore witness by His prophets through-out the Old Testament,

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II. CHRIST OWN CLAIMS TO DEITY:

There are many who say that Christ never claimed to be Divine, but that the disciples threw a halo about His memory and finally ascribed Deity to Him, The utter folly of this argument could be seen from the impossibility of the discouraged disciples ever doing that. Then the two on the Emmaus road is enough to see that.

But Christ did claim Deity, and in such a way as to be unmistakable. In fact, so clearly did He claim to be God, that It was the only cause for the Jews to put Him to death. Jesus in John 10 asked the Jews, "For which of my good works do you stone me," They replied, "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God," The modernist of today might twist the meaning of every statement of Christ as to His claims, but those who heard Him then had no doubt as to His meaning. He could have saved His life by refuting His own claims, for opportunity was afforded Him, but He could not disclaim what He knew was the truth, Let us examine some of the claims.

The modernist and the infidel alike admit that Jesus was a good man and a wise man. But how could He be a wise man and still be so foolish as to make the absurd ridiculous, egotistical claim o Godhead if it were not so. How could He be a true man if He lied. How could He be a good man If He deliberately started and perpetuated a monstrous lie and blasphemy? You see, as in every other case, to deny the truth is more than a matter of belief, But throws a reproach over upon the character of Christ.

Here are some of the claims--Notice some in general, First. ""I am the Way, I am the Light of the world, I am the Truth, I am the Life." What if I said that, not, I know the truth, But "I am the Truth" Everyone would brand me for a bigoted egotist, Other general statements, "I am the Resurrection and the life." "Eat my body and drink my blood," What would have been bigotry or egotism in even the most exalted of men, was spoken with such assurance, and majestic calm  from the Son of God, that men worshipped Him for it.

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He claimed the power to forgive sins. Mark 2. Ho claimed He was greater than the variable institutions of the Jews, the Sabbath. "The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." He claimed the future judgeship of all men. John 5:22,23, and with it claimed to have equal honor with the Father, "For neither doth the Father judge any man, but He that giveth all judgment unto the Son, that all men may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father." Could any man make the statement without blasphemy unless He were God?

He accepted the worship of men, which even angels refused to accept. John 20:28. Thomas called Him, "My Lord and My God." John 9:35-38.

THERE ARE SOME MORE SPECIFIC CLAIMS:

He placed Himself on equal footing with the Father and they Holy Ghost in the great commission to "go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost-- The greatest claim of all is found in John 8:48-59. He claimed to be the "Great" "I AM", of the Old Testament; the Jehovah God. For this they attempted to stone Him for they understood the import of His claim,

So there is but two alternatives: Either Jesus was the biggest humbug the world has ever seen, a deluded man, a liar, crazy and corrupt---or He was what He claimed to be, "The Son of God"; God manifested in human flesh.

III, THE TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST AS TO HIS DEITY

That the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ were firmly convinced of His Deity, Is shown in all their utterances about Him, and in all their writings. As when Jesus asked them, "Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am," the answers were various, but when He asked them, "But whom say ye that I am," Peter answered for the whole crowd without any hesitation, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,"

When He showed unto Thomas the fact of His resurrection, Thomas fell down and worshipped Him crying, "My Lord and My God." Thomas believed in the Deity of Jesus Christ. John, believed in the Deity of Jesus Christ,

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"All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made." There is no doubt as to Who the Word is, for we read further down, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth."

John the Baptist believed in the Deity of Christ, "He is preferred before me for He was before me" and I am not worthy to unloose the latchet of His shoes." Paul recognizes the Deity of Christ and His creatorship in all of His writings such as Col. 1:16, "For by Him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in earth, visible and Invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers, all things were made by Him and for Him and He is before all things." And further he declares that He upholds all things. "By Him all things consist" (Means hold together). He also states, "In Him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead Bodily." Col. 2:8.

The Book of Hebrews states, "But unto the Son He saith, thy Throne, 0 God, is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness, is the scepter of Thy kingdom." WORDS COULD NOT BE PLAINER. Titus 2:13 is clear -- "The glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ," (Correct translation).

When one goes to the Bible with an honest mind, and does not try to read into it something that is not in it, or something He wants to find in it, there is no doubt that It teaches in the clearest manner possible the Deity of Christ. The question then is not one of doubt as to the claims both of Scripture and Christ as to His Deity, but a question of accepting the Word of God, and believing the Word of of Christ. The trouble is not a lack of dependable evidence, but the same trouble that troubled the Pharisees, when Jesus said unto them, "He that wllleth to know shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself,"

B. THE REASONABLE GROUNDS FOR BELIEVING THE SCRIPTURAL
CLAIMS OF THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST.

1. THE UNIQUE CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST.

Our first consideration upon the reasonableness of the claims for the Deity of Jesus Christ

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revolves around the Uniqueness of His character, He stands alone without a parallel in all history. There never was another like Him, The closest approach to a character like His that history has revealed has been only of those who accept this Christ for their Saviour and their Lord, and then seek to emulate Him,
 
I. His Absolute Sinless ness, The moral perfection of His Character.

We are so used to the failures of men, the flaws in the best of lives, the defects or maybe only defeat, which somehow spoils the most perfect of human characters; until the spotless life of the Son of God strikes us with a great force. "Surely this was the Son of God," With what disappointment we study the lives of all the great men of the ages. The picture is always spoiled by some spot on an otherwise pretty picture. There is always the marring. Even the great men of the Bible are not without spot. A Samson goes wild over a silly girl and plays the fool. A Solomon lets strange women deflect his otherwise true heart from wholly following the Lord, and rear Idol temples to his own shame. A Moses lets a little wrath rob him of the greatest dream of his life, and hinders him from finally leading the Israelites into Canaan. A David, "after God’s own heart" has the perfect picture of his life ruined by the terrible blot of adultery and murder, So you may study the great man of history, he might shine as a military genius as did Alexander the Great, but he was a drunken sot, he might rank as a literary giant, but die in debauchery and want as Lord Byron and Poe, Some of the greatest composers of all time lived but short lives because of their shameful living. It seems that greatness according to man’s standards goes with recklessness and abandonment of living. A certain careless burning of the candle at both ends, No matter where you study the great of the earth, there is the spot, the defect of character, We do not expect to see perfection. One side of greatness is always at the expense of the other side of character,

But how different the Christ of Galilee, No matter in what circumstance or surrounding, we never find a strain, There is never a hasty

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word ill-chosen to mar. There is never a defect of character to spoil the picture. Here is Perfection. And the mind cannot help but say, "He just isn’t human," There is something supernatural about Him. For 2000 years men of all walks of life scrutiny  have looked into that life of Christ, and have yet to find a single flaw or disfigurement.

a, The Historical Account in the Four Gospels Reveals no flaw in Him.

We receive an estimate of the character of Christ by the many incidents and talks of Christ in the Gospels: The story of His journeys, the works that He did, the many sermons He preached, and the everyday incidents of life, such as His treatment of His mother, and the naturalness of His life. Had there been anything amiss to reveal some hidden defect, It would have somewhere arisen to the surface. Such is all human experience. A blemish of character may be hidden for a long time under a polish of culture and refinement, only to erupt under the right provocation. You may say of every friend and enemy you have, "He is an honest man, BUT he drinks" "Is a fine husband, BUT he gets mad." You don't have to put a postscript after any definition of the Christ, The human biographers of the life of Christ, no matter how biased they may have been, could not have helped but to have recorded in their honesty and zeal some defect of character. They might have considered it to have been an asset, but difference in race and circumstance over the 2000 years would have shown it to have been a defect, But they just aren’t there In the Four Gospels, Never by so much as a wrong word, or by some omission is there a single spot upon the portrait.

b, Never in His own prayers, teachings, or conversation is there any revelation of fault or confession of so much as a single error.

A confession we need to make continually both in our actions and arguments is, "I was wrong." Jesus never once confessed Himself wrong. Out of the very best of intentions we so often get the very worst of results, and have to tell someone, "I’m sorry, Bog-your-pardon, I was wrong,

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the fault is all mine, etc." Christ never had to apologize for a wrong act or a mistake in teaching.

There is a striking Illustration of this in two incidents In the New Testament. One where Paul was defending himself before the High Priest and religious leaders at Jerusalem, and was smitten on the face for his pains. He rebuked them, "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall; for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law."

They immediately answered him, "Revilest thou God’s High Priest." He apologized, "I wist not brethren that he was the High Priest, for it is written thou shalt not revile the ruler of thy people."

I’M SORRY, I did wrong, I’m at fault. Here Paul admits to two faults. One of ignorance and one of disobeying the scriptures.

But notice the other incident in John 18:18-23. Here was Jesus in argument with the High Priest. He told him to ask the crowds which hoard Him if He were guilty of wrong. Then one of the servants of the High Priest smote Him saying, "Answerest thou the High Priest so?" There was no admittance of ignorance nor wrong from the lips of Jesus, but "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why smitest thou me?" He knew both the identity of the High Priest and his hidden character as a convincing rascal, and was the Lord who had instituted the High Priestly office in the Old Testament,

Never once does Jesus admit to a wrong, a fault, or error.

Neither is there ever the confession of sin. He taught others to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses" but He never prayed that prayer for Himself. Never in any prayer on record that Jesus prayed does He ever make a single confession of sin, or ask forgiveness, Now, the very first Impulse of the human heart in the act of prayer is confession. As soon as we bow in the presence of the Holy God, we are smitten, as at no other time1with the sense

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of our own sinfulness and unholiness, our own unworthiness,  yet there is One who prayed constantly and fervently, yet the confession of sin or unworthiness was never once upon His lips. Ho always addressed God with complete assurance of sinlessness and perfect holiness, To His most bitter enemies Ho could serenely say, "Which of you convinceth me of sin;" Jno 8:46  and none could.

c. The Friends of Jesus could find no fault in Him,

There are of course many who would discredit the testimony of the disciples as too biased to be of any worth. But there is at least one good proof that their testimony can be relied upon. They always present Him as the faultless One, even when they themselves are exhibited in a very unfavorable light by the contrast. They make no attempt to conceal:

1) Their own ignorance. Matt. l5:l6, Mark 7:18.

2) Their own lack of faith. Matt, 16:8, Mark 8:7-21, Luke l7:5,

3) Their own littleness, Mark lO:l3,l4; Matt, 19:l4, Luke 18:16.

4) Their own unworthy ambitions. Mark 10:37. "Who would be greatest."

5) Their own unworthy conduct. Matt, 26:48, Denial of Peter, Mark 14:50, Desertion at the Cross.

The credibility of the Gospel narrators is assured by their extreme honesty in portraying their own failures, Men are not likely to invent anecdotes which discredit themselves, So when we find an author who is honest to the extreme where he will picture himself in a wrong light for the sake of truth, we may rest assured he is truthful in other matters concerning another. They had nothing to gain and everything to lose by trying to invent a fictitious character for Jesus, They stood to lose houses, lands, friends, and even their very lives. No, they presented Him as they saw Him. To them Ho was the Immaculate One, Their later testimony about Him when they had occasion to refer to it was of the perfect stainlessness of His moral character,

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d. The Enemies of Christ could find no fault in Him,

There were those who hated Christ intensely. They sent out spies to try to catch the slightest slip of the lip or the smallest wrong action that they might have somewhat to accuse Him. They pressed Him to say many things, asking Him all kinds of catchy questions, brought persons caught in sin, like the adulterous women, to see if He wouldn't somehow slip up on His interpretation of the Law because of His love for sinners. Here, He first got rid of them by say, "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone," they melted away until Christ was alone with the woman, then He could, out of His great love for sinners, forgive her, and send her away. In their great hatred, the three great religious organizations of the Jews, religion, which were at each other’s throats ordinarily, could team up and become buddies in their antagonism toward Christ. What no other thing could do to bring them together, hatred accomplished. The Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodians, each bringing their own particular talents to the task, tried for three and one-half years to find some fault in the Christ, It needed not to be a large one, just some slip, some trivial thing, and don't think that hatred will overlook anything amiss, Hatred has the keen nostrils of the buzzard to detect the least rottenness. But utterly frustrated after the greatest of efforts, and 3 and one-half years of the keenest scrutiny, the only thing they could find to say against Him were only questions of traditionalism about washing the hands, the Sabbath day, and His own claims to Deity.

They tried to catch Him on the divorce question, then on the Sabbath question with the man and the withered hand, they tried the law, with the question as to the greatest commandment; they tried to get Him for treason with the penny and tribute to Caesar; they tried Him with the question on the resurrection, They sent out some officers to take Him, and when they returned empty handed, they answered the Priests, "Never a man spoke like this man."

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They had to perjure witnesses at the trial of Jesus and the best they could do was to make up some misinterpretation of the statement by Jesus, "Destroy this temple and I'll rebuild it in three days." Matt, 26:59-61.

So after 3 and one-half years of effort, spurred on by hatred, the only thing they could find fault with in Christ were the very things which we love Him. he things they criticized in Him, we know to be virtues.

1) "He receiveth sinners and eateth with them Like Simon the Pharisee," "If this man were a prophet he would have known what kind of a woman it was who was washing His feet with the tears and drying them with her hair." "He associates with publicans and sinners".

2) He broke the traditions of the fathers about the Sabbath day, and dug it out of the rubbish heap; the Jews had buried it under and showed it to be a day made for man. He was willing to do good on the Sabbath days.

3) They condemned Him for His condemnation of the hypocritical religious leaders because He would not come under the yoke of the religious rulers and carry on their little pretences.

But the very things for which they blamed Him, we praise Him. Don’t think for one moment that had there been anything at all at fault in the Christ that the Pharisees would not have found it and aived  it to the skies, but the fact that they could find none is very apparent and worthy of note in considering the sinlessness of Christ. They found no mud to sling at Him.

Pilate had to admit after hearing all the so-called evidence they brought against Him, "I find no fault in this man," and again after delivering Him to the will of the people, ""I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Pilate's wife knew, and called Him a 'just man"

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Then there was a spy in the camp of the disciples. No doubt Judas Iscariot was vexed often by the guilelessness and sinlessness of the Christ, His pure life condemned his own greedy, crafty nature. He looked again and again for some flaw, and if they can't find one they will manufacture one. Judas was a spy in the camp, and it would have comforted his tormented conscience to have found at least, just one sin, or flaw, or defect, yet in the hour of his bitterness he confessed, "I have betrayed Innocent blood,"

This is the testimony of those who gladly would have given the other kind if it were possible, but Pilate's confession is universal, "I find no fault in this man,"

2. THE PERFECT POISE OF HIS CHARACTER

Jesus stands alone among men in the perfect balance or symmetry of His personality. There is no glaring protruding virtue pushed out of proportion obscuring all the rest of His virtues, He is not lopsided though He lived in a day, among a race, surrounded by the very circumstances which should presumably contribute toward such abnormal swelling of some sides to His nature at the expense of others. But the truth is that every virtue met in Him and found a perfect balance. Even the opposite virtues, so incompatible, blended in Him. Few people ever combine in their natures the sterner virtues with the softer graces. If the sterner virtues are present they crush out the softer graces, and the person is unsympathetic, without any understanding of the weakness of others where they fail to measure up to His standards, But if the tenderer graces reside within a man or woman, they all too often let their hearts run away with their heads, and excuse, where they ought to condemn, and sometimes allow others to run over them, You will find that gentleness is not there when courage and strength is present. But how often do they both meet and perfectly blend in the same character?

But added to this is the fact  that there is always the human tendency to carry their virtues to the extreme and they become vices, and cease to be virtues,

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As for instance:

Generosity is a virtue but when carried to extremes it becomes extravagance, and prodigality. Enthusiasm is a virtue but when carried to extremes it becomes fanaticism, Frugality is a virtue but when carried to extremes it becomes  stinginess and miserliness. Self-confidence is a virtue but when carried to extremes it becomes conceit. Humility is a virtue but when carried to extremes it becomes subservience and an inferiority complex extremes.

Every virtue when pushed out of proportion becomes a vice and ceases to be a virtue. But here is the perfection of the Christ and proof of His deity, All virtues known to man meet in Him in perfect proportion and blend. Never does any one virtue extend to the expense of another, nor overshadow another.

In every circumstance the right virtue is exercised by Him. If there is the need of firmness, then He is firm, never giving place to hypocrisy or sham. Where gentleness is needed His is the sympathy and understanding needed for the occasion,

The Roman Catholics believed in the Deity of Christ, but at the expense of His humanity. They believe in His majesty, power, and infinite Holiness, But became afraid to intercede directly to Him. They thought they needed an Intermediate personage and alighted upon Mary. They crowned her "Queen of Heaven", in order to get the womanly qualities of sympathy, compassion, and tenderness. But they need not have looked for those qualities in another than Christ. Every womanly grace was in Him. Never was there one more sympathetic, more tender or gentle. Yet He was not effeminate, Rugged John the Baptist would never have been awed by a weak, effeminate man. The crowd never would have wanted to make a weak womanly man as a King over them. See Him as with fire filled eyes He drove the money changers from His Father’s houses. You see the perfect manly courage and firmness. But see His tenderness in dealing with the adulterous woman or Mary Magdalene and you see His infinite compassion and tenderness, HE COMBINED IN HIMSELF THE TENDERNESS AND GENTLENESS WHICH MAKE WOMANHOOD BEAUTIFUL ALONG WITH THE COURAGE, HEROISM, MASTERFUL LEADERSHIP, AND HEROISM WHICH IS MANHOOD’S GLORY, NEVER OUT OF PROPORTION, BUT IN HARMONY, in perfect poise.

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There was no narrowness in Christ.

He arose clear out of His generation and nation. He had a breadth of sympathy and tolerance, yet a resolute narrowness of conviction for truth, He could abrogate every human law concerning the Sabbath in order to relieve some sufferer, yet contradict and oppose the whole nation upon some section of truth in order to vindicate the Word of God, He lived in the midst of the narrowest minded people on the face of the earth. With social boundary lines, ostracizing publican  and sinners. With racial boundary lines excluding all other people from themselves even the mixed Samaritans, With religious boundary lines in which some favored few self-termed rulers of the Jews were fenced off for special benefits. But Jesus over turned every boundary line He encountered. He carried the world in His heart, and loved the greatest and the least, He could love a rich young ruler yet be a friend to publicans and sinners, saying, "Those which are whole need not a physician, but those which are sick," and "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost."

Of the great men of all nations, each suggest to the mind some limited nationality, in science, Watts and Edison suggests the inventor, Napoleon, etc., the warrior, Columbus the discoverer and as to nationality Demosthenes suggests the Greek, Lafayette the Frenchman, Washington as the American Type. The Jew is always a Jew. He never is lost in the melting pot of nations to lose his identity. He cannot be woven into the fabric of the nations where he lives. And yet while Jesus was a Jew by birth, He was not a Jew in this sense, but the "Son of Man" That is why every race that ever comes in contact with the Gospel story somehow or other claims Christ as its own. Instead of being a Jew who lived 2000 years ago, He is a present personality closely identified with their present habits and nationality. Racial bounds are obliterated. To me He is not a Jew with different racial characteristics which separate Him from me with only weak indifferent ties, but I feel that He somehow represented me not only in substitutionary atonement, but as a Man. So any man no matter what his temperament, trade, occupation, race, language, or habits finds in Christ something that answers his own peculiar personality; a sympathizing brother,

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Something more should be said about the unique character of the Man Christ Jesus, There was in His humanity not only the best of humanity, but to a perfect degree which cries out the truth of His Deity.

There is the magnanimity of His Character. There Is no meanness or prejudice. It is true that in His mission as the Messiah to the Jews He was restricted to go "Only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel" until they should have officially rejected Him, then it was, He could bring Salvation to the lost of the world, Satan knew the secret self-love, and law of the self preservation deep rooted in the human heart when he accused Job before God with, "All that a man hath will he give for his life." He intimated that even a good man will make every sacrifice to save his own skin, But how cheerfully did Jesus accept the way of even the cruel shameful death of crucifixion for the sake of those who were his enemies. The strangest words the world has ever heard probably were those which came from the victim of a blood-thirsty mob, hanging on a cross of crucifixion, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,"

Lastly, there is the drawing power of His love. There was day when the great teacher was weary with the long days work, and still the folks came, They brought the little children to Him, that He might bless them. How different this Great Prophet to all that proceeded Him. How often does the great man take time with the children? How hard it is for a busy man to stoop to bless children. It is hard for a great teacher to couch his utterances so that children can understand. Even Elijah got so vexed with the taunting street urchins calling him an old bald-head that he called forth she-bears from the woods to eat them.

Human compassion can never make one insensible to the contagious nature of disease, And even the physician uses rubber gloves when dealing with contagious cases. But Jesus touched the leper in healing him, Why? Could He not heal him otherwise? Surely, but the leper needed more. How long since a human hand had touched his in love and sympathy? He wept the tomb of Lazarus. See His last thoughts upon the cross as He thinks of others, and commits His mother to the care of John, See the Love of God at its highest level, as it was in Christ offering Himself for the whole sinning world.

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How often human purity and righteousness is repelling. Like the lofty pure snow capped mountain. Cold and chilling, but repelling and distant. There Is never any power in a pure unfallen woman, who has never herself felt the sting of public scorn to draw the fallen woman to her. What magnetic power there must have been about Jesus, Sinners were drawn to Him irresistibly, and yet He was the purest man to walk the earth.. God incarnate. He moved among sinful men freely, ate with the sinners, and publicans, yet His garments took no more stain than the light as it shines upon the filth. Yet the very outcasts of society kissed His feet, and sought His warm forgiveness. His was a purity which made the snow to be dirty, a spotlessness, and yet the vilest came to Him.

How are all these mysteries of the Man Christ Jesus explicable except upon the very testimony of the Word of God, "The Logos became flesh and dwelt among us," "Truly this is the Son of God: He is the Emmanuel, God with us,"

II, THE MIRACULOUS WORKS OF CHRIST

This is a consideration of the reasonableness of the claims of Christ substantiated by the miraculous works which He did. We have already considered the testimony of prophecy to the Christ; but God has set up one more proof to be given that a message, or a man is from Him. It is the testimony of a miraculous power over and above that possessed by man. It would be unnatural not to find this second testimony to Christ in the Biblical account. In John 5:36 we read, "But I have a greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me."

Again when John the Baptist was in doubt as to whether Jesus was the Messiah or not, and sent some of his disciples to inquire, "Art thou He that should come or do we look for another." Christ did not give them some discourse or reason for believing that He was in truth the Emmanuel for which Israel looked, but simply pointed to the miraculous works He was doing that very day, "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind

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receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them, blessed Is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me."

If a man accepts the witness of the disciples of Christ as they wrote of the life of Christ then we must admit that Christ exercised omnipotent power. If their testimony is not accepted then the Bible must be discarded as a tissue of lie, and a colossal fraud. For those who take the position of Hume, that "a miracle is incredible," or unbelievable no matter how much testimony there is, it is to throw out the whole Bible, for Its whole witness depends upon the attested miracle. To shut the eyes blindly and deny a miracle no matter the witness is absurd. To say that a miracle is impossible is to dogmatically assert that one knows every law of nature past, present and future Not only in the realm of human experience but to profess to know every law of nature in heaven, earth and hell. Because the Bible teaches me that this universe is more than a mechanical contrivance but is under a moral law, and primarily a spiritual order controlled by an omnipotent God, I expect miracles.

Take the miraculous element out of the Bible and Christianity and the empty shell that remains is like the husk of the wheat after the kernel is removed, Wherever God touches the realm of the human there are miracles and wonders, In the graduation of intelligence in the world there is a raising of the power to bend natural laws to subservience, and to the lower understanding it seems miraculous.

As a father I do things every day which to my son seems miraculous. God, who made all the laws of nature can exercise many of them we know nothing about to accomplish His ends, or make new ones. It isn’t in the credibility of miracles but credibility of the witnesses, It is absurd to deny the possibility of miracles.

Now what of the credibility of the Gospel witnesses? Did they fabricate their story? Listen to one of the greatest authorities on testimony the world has

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ever had. Simon Greenleaf, author of "The Law of Evidence," a standard authority in every court of Law in the English speaking world, in his book "The Testimony of the Evangelist Examined by the Rules of Evidence Demonstrated in Courts of Justice." With his trained legal mind after purely Judicial procedure, Greenleaf weighs the evidences for the trustworthiness of the four Evangelists. Pages 30,31.

"There writings show them to have been men of vigorous understanding. If then, their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication. It would also have been irreconcilable with the fact they were good men. But it is impossible to read their writings and not feel that we are conversing with men eminently holy, and of tender conscience, with men acting under an abiding sense of the presence and omniscience of God, and of their accountability to Him, living in His fear and walking in His ways."

"Now though in a single instance a good man may fall when under strong temptations, yet he is not found persisting for years in deliberate falsehood, asserting with the most solemn appeals to God., without the slightest temptation or motive, and against all opposing interests which reign in the human breast, If, on the contrary, they are supposed to have been bad men, it is incredible that such men should have chosen this form of imposture enjoining as It does unfeigned repentance, the utter forsaking and abhorrence of all falsehood and of every other sin, the practice of self-denial, self-abasement and self-sacrifice, the crucifixion of the flesh, with all its earthly appetites and desires, indifference to honors, and hearty contempt of the vanities of the world; and inculcating perfect purity of heart and life and intercourse of the soul with heaven."

"It is incredible that bad men should invent false hoods to promote the religion of the God of Truth. The supposition is suicidal, if they did believe in a future state of retribution, and heaven and hell hereafter, they took the most certain course of false witnesses to secure the latter for their portion. And if, still being bad men, they did. not believe in future punishment, how came they to invent falsehoods, the direct and certain tendency

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of which was to destroy all their prospects of worldly honor and happiness, and to insure their misery in this life, From these absurdities there is no escape, but in the perfect conviction observed and considered and well knew to be true." 

Now can anyone escape from such logic as that without just being purely stubborn in their doubt and antagonistic in their heart? The writers of the Four Gospels wrote what they saw, being fully convinced of the truth of what they wrote, They walked with Jesus for three and one-half years and witnessed His mighty works and were convinced of His Godhood. One of the purposes of Christian Evidences, by the way, is to tear off the artificial sheep skin of modernism, and show the wolf nature within, sired of Satan and born in hell, a God hating, Christ denying infidelity of the worst kind.

Christian Evidences sweeps away the false props and leaves no middle ground to limp on, it boils the issue down to two propositions and leaves no third. Either the record is true or false. Either the witnesses were true holy men of God writing what they saw and believed to be true, or they lied, Either Christianity is a supernatural religion, born in Heaven with a supernatural Saviour Who is the Only Begotten Son of God, God in Truth, with a supernatural work of regeneration, or else the whole thing is a sham and pretence, concocted in a lie, and only a human fabrication with sinners still hell hound, without a Savior or salvation.

Strauss and Renan both presented what they thought was an argument against the supernaturalness of Christ which is rather an argument for it, They said in substance," that if Christ were indeed the Son of God, there would be about His whole character and life, as well as His words and works, a plain supernatural aspect; that the very naturalness of the whole story shows it to be only the work of a man's hand. It is only what a good and great man would do. If God really came down among men, the very light of His eyes, His form and feature, His tread, would all proclaim the Creator and Lord." But they argued, all of the life of Christ is too natural and intensely human.

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But this very fact argues for the truthfulness of the record and the trustworthiness of the very witnesses that Strauss and Renan both accuse of lying, elsewhere in their works. Had imposters been at work, fabricating a story of God coming to earth and dwelling in flesh, they would have imposed on human credulity and not had such a simple portrait; they would have clothed Him in the most fantastic of halos. Look at the spurious "Gospels of the Infancy" for illustration. They have the oxen bowing and worshipping the infant Jesus, The dumb idols of Egypt bowed and worshipped. Trees bowed and worshipped  The boy Jesus making mud pies into living birds and killing his companions for stepping on his mud pies, changing his companions into goats. Note also all the myths of the Greeks and Romans half animal and half human when they bring deity to earth, it is a1ways a strained unnatural thing.

What an argument, that the Disciples do not concoct the Christ, but only wrote what they saw; for if left to themselves they would certainly not have been so natural and unaffected, Here is your case of the children piping in the market place. The mythologies are full of  fanciful stories of human deities doing crazy things, and the wiseacres say, "They are too unnatural, inconsistent, contradictory," At least God gives a true incarnation, natural unaffectatious, and the wise owls squint at it and say, "All this is too simple and natural, it must be a myth." Pipe for them a joyful tune and they won't dance, play a mournful tune and they won't lament, If an incarnation is unnatural it is mythical, if it is natural it is mythical.

How the miracles of the Christ always suit His Deity. He never calls forth His power to please the multitude of skeptics who are just idly curious. When the Pharisees desired a sign He said, "No sign shall be given but the prophetic sign." How a fake would have trotted out his jugglery then to amaze and impress them, Before Herod, who had long time desired to see Jesus and see some sign or miracle, Jesus would not do a single one, But all day long His love worked miracles of healing upon a multitude who were as sheep without a shepherd.

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III. THE MARVELOUS TEACHINGS OF CHRIST

Christ is the expression of God, God manifested to man as never before or since. This may be soon in the term Logos of John 1. Here the Logos, or Word, is the expression of God. Christ as the Living Word of God must then in His teachings give the impression of His Deity. I expect a grandeur, a sublimity, an originality, an authority as befitting His Deity. "God Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by (or in the original "in") His Son," Heb, 1:1-2 expect a divine wisdom and positiveness of utterance that will evidence His Godhood and give the truth to the words of the apostles, "In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." There are a number of sermons that Jesus reached, a number of private discourses to select from, and conversations with individuals, in all those there is ample ground. for estimating the worth of His teachings. We may study the effect of His teachings upon those who heard Him, and the effects of His teachings still r upon those who imbibe them today.

Now there are certain things to note about His teachings which prove His Deity; that mark His teachings as bearing the stamp of Divine utterances and above human wisdom,

1. AUTHORITY OF HIS TEACHINGS

The first thing that strikes the reader and that struck those who heard Him for the first time as He taught from a mountain pulpit or from a fisherman's boat, was His authority. As in Mark 1:27 "And they were all amazed insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth He even the uncle en spirits and they obey Him."

And verse 22: "And they wore astonished at His doctrine; for He taught them as one having authority and not as the Scribes."

How different this teacher than any that had ever come among them. The Scribes, as the 

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transcribers of the Law of God, were familiar with the Scriptures and the authority of matters of interpretations of the Law of God, But they were merely commentators; speaking with a "It hath been said to you of old times" or "It is written in the Book of Isaiah the Prophet." And even the Prophets of old could not speak but with a "Thus saith the Lord," But Jesus spoke with an "I say unto you" needing to quote no authority for His proof. He spoke not as an interpreter, nor commentator but as the author, with original authority. His is the words, "I am the Truth" not just know the truth, but truth personified.

The greatest of human teachers have always had to have a great deal of humility in their teachings shown by their dealing in probabilities, and admittance of the possibility of error, They deal much in "if" and "perhaps" and "it is likely" all showing that they are conscious of the fact that they could have been wrong. And the wiser  the man, the more likely he is to assume the correct attitude that "it might be so, and it might be wrong." He usually hunts for his authority from the findings of other great men, never liking to stand alone on his own authority, he seeks to be corroborated by others. But such is not the teachings of Christ, He never once hesitated in unfolding the deepest and greatest of truths, such as the spirituality of God, state of angels, life after death, and the full duties of man. To Nicodemus He calmly answered the question of the need of the new birth, To the woman at the well He declared the forgotten truth that God is Spirit and cannot be worshipped with man-made ceremonial worship of outward rites and will-worship, with a "bodily exercise which profiteth little."

But see Him most majestically as He preaches from the mount the uncomparable "Sermon on the Mount," There He uncovered from the Law of God accumulated rubbish of the centuries of interpretation, and traditionalism, and gave again the spiritual meaning and power of the Law of God. The scribes and religious leaders had so buried the Law of God in their interpretations and traditionalism until it had ceased to shine as holy and vital, Christ condemned them, "Ye make the Law void through your traditions,"

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Like the picture which Lord Northwlck brought from Italy, of St. Gregory, by Annibale Carraci, in order to safely deliver it he had it daubed over with a cheap painting. On the exposing of the picture to his critical friends, they scoffed at it being a treasure. But quickly taking a sponge and washing the new color off, the masterpiece was gradually unveiled before their admiring eyes. In like manner the interpreters of the law had smeared over the Law with the teachings and commandments of men. With Divine authority Jesus boldly wipes away the glosses of false comment and perversion and makes the Law to be seen once more in its true intent and spirit. "Ye have heard that it hath been told you of old time:" that is the gloss, the false covering of man-made paint; "but I say unto you", that is the divine original. This authority of utterance without have to say, "Thus saith the Lord" speaks of the Deity of Christ. Even in His dying hour hanging upon a cross without even a garment of His own to cover His body, yet with unfaltering tongue and conscious power and authority, promises the thief the inheritance of eternal bliss, "Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."

You cannot read the teachings of Christ without somehow being conscious that you arc reading truth from an original fountain head, Here is ultimate authority. Here is the power of the teachings of Christ which has made them endure the ravages of time, to live and breathe today with the same power, and life, and influence as when He spoke thorn. "Never man spake like this man, for His doctrine is not like the scribes and Pharisees, but with authority." Not the authority of a prophet or messenger endowed with supernatural power and inspiration, but the author, Here you reach the origination of all truth, Here is God speaking with the positiveness of Deity. "Verily, verily, I say unto you."

2. THE TRANSCENDENCY OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST

When comparing the teachings of Christ with those of His day, or with the centuries, there is noted transcendency and sublimity which marks Christ as other than other teachers, The Jewish

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nation had many great teachers and leaders. There were the Scribes, lawyers. rabbis, doctors of the law, the Pharisees, learned members of the Sanhedrin like Saul of Tarus, but none of them taught like Christ. To prevent errors in transcribing the Mascrites counted the words and letters and recorded them, more than that, they counted and recorded the points and account marks "every jot and tittles,"  Minute accuracy, But they had gotten so engrossed with the letter of the law they forgot the spirit of it.. Their worship had become cold and heartless, lifeless, and a mass of empty puerile form. cumbered with a load of trifles, as Christ said. "Ye load burdens grievous to be born upon men and lift not one finger to help carry the load," Technical trifles which matter not one whit.  They had tithing down to the finest of points. until it was grievous, "Ye tithe mint and anise and cummin and have omitted the weightier matter of the law, judgment , mercy and faith."

For illustration, the two schools of, Hillel, which had Gamaliel for its head teacher in Christ and Paul's day, and the school of.  Shammai, were always at odds and arguing weightily over such questions as, "If a man was born with two heads on which should he he required to wear the phylactery."  The school of Shammai taught that an egg laid on a festive day  could be eaten, but the school of Hillel  argued which way the water had  run down the elbow from the hand in order to ceremonially clean, The whole system of religion  was the question of washings and abstinence, and trifling regulations which rival the Koran of the Mohammedans. They loaded men’s memories and consciences with countless rules until the weightier matters of the law were forgotten. You see that in their constant bickering against Christ or the disciples not washing before  eating, not to get clean, but be clean ceremonially, on their breaking of the Sabbath. They made the outside of the platter clean, while inwardly they were full of corruption., They whited the Sepulchers of the fathers to keep from touching them end being unclean, while their own hearts were full of dead man's bones, Now of which school was

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Christ? Where did He learn to teach on a scale of such grandeur, majesty, dignity, authority, and sublimity? He could not have gotten it from the prevailing thought of His day. Born in an obscure despised village of Galileo, where the Jews expected no good thing to emanate, dying at the young age of 33, with no scholastic training, calling forth the contemptuous laugh of His enemies, "Whence knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" Who then taught Him those lofty spiritual principles which are as timeless as God Himself, and fit all men, of all ages, in all parts of the earth in every circumstance of his life? You can't answer that question without admitting the Deity of Christ.

The whole of the Hebrew religion was corrupted by the Pharisaic ritualism, and Sadducean rationalism until the blind were leading the blind and both falling in the ditch together. Until out of an obscure mean city comes this young Nan untrained in the colleges of the Gentiles, or the schools of Hillel or Shaminai, but out of a carpenter shop, and yet from His first utterances He overturned both the existing systems of the Jews and Paganism. There is no natural explanation for the transcendency of Christ’s teachings. Ho rises too high above His  age and circumstances. He was not product of His race or age but "God manifest in the flesh".

3, THE WISDOM OF CHRIST'S TEACHINGS

The teachings of Christ in their wisdom inspire us with awe like the huge snow capped mountain, standing out so clearly yet so majestically. The world waited for four thousand years for such wisdom as that of Christ, And yet it is a wisdom without using the language of the philosopher or schoolman. It required no trained mind to follow His teachings. One did not need to be a college graduate to grasp His meaning. There is no tediousness or wearisome analysis,  with a firstly, and secondly, and thirdly. There is no studied rhetoric, no piling up of words for effect, Christ is after the thought, and uses words which would have doomed a mere man's teachings to extinction as being childish, but in the

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mouth of the Master teacher they make His message to live and breathe with the warmth and love of God. His illustrations are not elaborate but simple and powerful. They are windows for His thoughts arid Ho scorns to use elaborate frames for them. It is no wonder the "common people heard Him gladly." Here for the first time in their experience eternal truths come clothed in words they could understand without losing any power or moaning. Some folks think wisdom is the ability to use big words whether anyone knows their meaning or not, but Jesus spoke the profoundest truths to ever fall on the oars of men with words of monosyllables. Everyday words of common people, words you can’t help but know the meaning.

The greatest literary genius the world had ever seen cannot improve nor give another to compare with the parables of Jesus. In His verbal battle with His enemies He always bested them and silenced them, or literally "gagged them". He left them without any retort. As in the question of the greatest commandment.

The principles He declared are self-evident and forceful. They carry the same logical force as mathematics, such as, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit, wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Ever since then men have quoted that truth without knowing its author, for it lives.

In the model prayer He gave to His disciples there is embodied all the elements of prayer. You cannot add to it. In only 65 words there is all a real prayer should have.

1, The Fatherhood of God over His children- " Our Father",

2. Living transcendency of God-- "Which art in Heaven,"

3. His unapproachable Holiness-- "Hallowed by Thy Name."

4. His Sovereign Rulership-- "Thy Kingdom come"

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5. Acquiescence to His will--"Thy will be done on Earth as it Is
in Heaven."

6, Dependence upon Him for sustenance--"Give us this day our daily bread."

7. The need for sins forgiveness--"Forgive us our debts (against thee)"

8, Love and right relation with man--"As we forgive those who trespass against us."

9, Succor ship in the hour of Temptation--"Abandon us not unto temptation (original),"

10, Protection from the Devil --"Deliver us from evil." (From the evil one,)

11. Anthem of Praise--"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever."

We can enlarge upon one or another of the parts but at the last they are all here. As we contemplate the wisdom of Christ we see a wisdom above that of man. We see the truth of Paul--"In Him are hid all. the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

4. THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST

Has it not seemed remarkable to you that Jesus never sought to set right the fearful social ills and crimes of His day? He lived in a day when every kind of governmental and social ill was rampant, such as polygamy, infanticide, legalized prostitution, bloody and brutal games, the most horrible deaths by torture, cruel bloody wars of aggression, caste systems, and slavery. If any of our modern church leaders had lived then ho would have dabbled in them and tried then as now to clean up society and outlaw wars,

Yet Jesus names and rebukes only one, that of divorce. It wasn't because Christ sanctioned any of these evils. The noble lofty principles He taught has meant the death of these ills wherever His truths are accepted,

Here is the true flexibility and wisdom of the teachings of Christ, He never dealt in rules or local restrictions which would have passed

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away with the local conditions. The rules and laws governing any people pass away with the passing away of the people. The laws governing ancient Rome would not be applicable to America, That is why the Law of Moses as a set of rules and restrictions and regulations was given only locally to Israel, and could not apply to people the world around, such as the need of only offering in one city, what a hardship that would be to the poor of other lands, or the not kindling a fire on the Sabbath day, how would that work in a cold climate.

If Christ had dealt in rules of religion and regulations, Ho would have been only human for that is the best the human can devise, but He dealt in principles which are universal arid eternal.

A principle is a Divine conception of right. A rule is a current application of that principle.

A principle is eternal and universal. A rule is local and restricted.

Rules change with the times and peoples, while principles remain the same. The Ten Commandments dealing with morals are the same for they are principles, while the ceremonial law is a set of rules local to Israel, Rules of religion soon become outgrown, Any religion based upon rules has two evil alternatives, either the people in growing break the rules, or the rules are so strong they break the people.

See then that Christ planted the germ of holy principles in His teaching which carry just as much weight and are just as binding throughout the ever changing human relations, and environments. His divine principles of right and wrong are just as up to date and binding upon men in this vaunted 20th century as it was when they fell upon the ears of the slow moving pastoral peoples of Palestine.

A. T, Pierson gives this illustration: God uses a strange substance to confine and restrain the Oceans flood. It is sand, yet sand is peculiarly characterized by movability; the mighty wave

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dashes against and pulverizes the rocky Cliff but only moves the sand before it, and as it recedes it washing it back into place, and so the sea-beach ever changes and yet never changes, that self mobile sand which yields to our footsteps, banks in and holds the mighty sea. And so the holy principles with which Jesus surrounds and restrains the individual and society accommodates themselves to all of the fluctuating tides of human life, yet they abide eternally and imperatively the bounds to human passion and greed.

5. THE ORIGINALITY OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST

How easy it is to follow the blazed trail, and how difficult to be a trail blazer; to launch out into the uncharted wilderness of any human endeavor and make new trails for later minds to follow. In all of the teachings of Christ there is an element of newness about the oldest of truths. Like the diamond, it can be held to light in one angle and one facet catches the light and reflects one beautiful color, held another way it reflects another, The diamond of truth In the Old Testament had been allowed to be covered with dirt and nc~lect and rubbish, but Christ brushed it off and turned new light upon the old truths until they shone with new luster. Many of the principles Christ taught were to be found buried in the Old Testament, but were misunderstood or not understood at all.

Note the newness of His teachings on retaliation and treatment of an enemy. This world has had a wonderful time laughing at the teaching, "Turn the other cheek", but isn’t that the best way after all to stop a quarrel before it costs you sorrow, suffering, financial loss and friends? There are only three things you can do when a wrong is done you.

a. Revenge, You hit me and I'll hit you. This is the world’s answer to a wrong. It will give you a certain bestial relief and gratification, But it won’t settle any quarrel. But if he operates under the same rule, he has more to even up then, so you have feuds, and now world wars, It starts a vicious circle,

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b. Flight. Run away, but that won’t satisfy the hatred in the other man’s heart, only adding contempt to his hatred.

c. Return good for evil. "If he smites you on one cheek turn the other also, if he makes you go one mile, go two with him." That is the best way to throw cold water on hatred and ruin a feud.

There is the originality of Christ’s teachings on doing good to your neighbors. But the question which always bothered men and led them wrong was, "Who is my neighbor?" as the Jews ask Christ, The Jew couldn't believe that a Samaritan was a neighbor. The Jew felt like the only neighbor to him was a Jew, the Greek that only a Greek was his brother and so on in all national life, But Christ in the parable of the good Samaritan struck a strong blow at the nationalistic policy of the Jew. Three classes, a priest, but he passed by on the other side; a Levite, but he passed by on the other side; finally a Samaritan who "came where he was" and bound up his wounds, took him to an inn, and paid all bills and promised future security. Christ asked the pertinent question, "Which one was the neighbor?" Even the Jews had to admit the Samaritan.

Like the man who wouldn't give to missions, They asked him, "Why?"  He said he thought his own neighbors needed help first. They asked him, "Who is your neighbors?" "Why, I guess it is the man whose property joins mine." "Well," they told him, "We want this money for the man whose property joins yours in the middle of the earth."

Christ was the first to teach that all men were brothers, neighbors, and gave the impulse to the feeling of missionary work, that I'm responsible for all men.

Then there is the originality of Christ’s teachings on Hell. He first gave the window on life after death in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, to show the condition of each immediately after death, One in bliss and the other in torment.

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6. THE VITALITY OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST

There is a life and power about the teachings of Christ which mark them as coming from the source of all life. Christ said concerning His own words, John 6:6, "The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." There is no mustiness about His teachings. How dry in contrast are all the ritualism of religion both Jewish and churchy, Dead forms, "Having a name that then live, but are dead", and "having a form of godliness but the power is denied." Its signs of life are but activity not life. Like the experiment of putting electricity to a dead frog and seeing it stiffly hop around. All kindly activity but dead, There is a movement but no life, How the utterance of Jesus live and breathe especially to those who observe them.

When you read the works of men long since dead they have the smell of the tomb about them. So much that they wrote about is no longer in discussion, some things they were concerned about have ceased to be of concern, and even that which is still applicable to the times is dealt with in such a strange manner as to cease to breathe when the author ceased to breathe. But the teachings of Christ play as vital a role in today’s life as of old. When you road them they speak to you as from the author Himself.

a. Penetration, Expressed in the words of Paul, "The Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword" The words of Jesus penetrate to the inner conscience and reveals the thoughts of the heart. "He needed not that any man should testify what was in man, for He knew what was in man," How the Sermon on the Mount dissects the very soul of man, it goes to the well springs of the soul to reveal the hidden corruption.

He reveals the secret of why some give alms to be seen of men and to be applauded, The Pharisees prayed aloud in public for notoriety, the fault finder finds faults in you because there is a beam in his own eyes. Who is better able to detect a crook but a crook, Hence the Pharisees condemns ostentation, the bigot denounces intolerance, the hypocrite rebukes insincerity, and

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backsliders, inconsistency. Christ answered the perplexing question of why one man is so severe in some things while lax in another, It is to make up for his own laxity. He will feast six days and fast the seventh. Cheat his neighbor all week but wouldn't think of blacking his boots on Sunday. Try to make up for getting his money through cheating by giving to some "worthy cause."

In his penetration He always knew just what is wrong with men -- as the rich young ruler, "go sell all you have and give to the poor," He knew the sensitive spot, the greed for gain and its corruption. To the woman at the well He delicately probed her heart, "Go call your husband," and her testimony was "Come and see a man which told me all things which ever I did," But there was no resentment there as others would have provoked by their inquisitiveness, I do not believe that any man can honestly read the teachings of Christ without getting a self portrait by so doing. His teachings cover the whole gamut. No wonder men hate them. No natural man likes a portrait which doesn"t flatter, but tells the truth.

b. The power of His teachings show their vitality and spirituality,

He solved some of the most perplexing questions of humanity. Questions humanity has been perplexed over like the child over a mathematical problem. Philosophers have played with the most vital things of earth, What is man?  where did he come from?  to whom does he feel this obligation to obey and whither does he tend? What is after death? He once and for all resolved man's supreme obligation as his whole love to God and man, and gave the fullest example of it on Calvary. There lie showed the character of God as holy, hating sin; yet loving sinners, and the character of men is sinful, erring and needing an access back to God,

There are a multitude of proofs we have not considered which bear a weight of evidences for the Deity of Christ, The honest opponent must give some attempt to answer the reason for the

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Christian Church upon the earth if Christ were not Divine. How could a dead malefactor so influence the course of history and religion as to found the Church? How could He influence such nations as England which when found by the Romans was a blood-thirsty savage land 50 years before Christ, Some 500 or 600 years later Christianity touched England and has led it on to its glory today. Only 4 centuries ago America was a savage wilderness but now boasts the greatest civilization. Why? Why is it bestial games are prohibited by the law? No cock fighting, no bull fighting, no deadly combats  and dueling? Why is it prostitution in many places in many other nations? And so many other things  which are either sanctioned or smiled upon by law in many places are outlawed in this country. It is the influence of one Man and His Gospel, Jesus Christ, Disraeli, the  Jew, said of Him, “The pupil of Moses may ask himself whether all the princes of the house of David have done as much f or the Jews as that prince Who was crucified. Had it not been for Him the Jews would have been comparatively unknown or known as only an oriental casto which had lost its country. Has He not made their history the most famous history in the world? The wildest dreams of their Rabbis have been far exceeded, Has not Jesus conquered Europe and changed its name to Christendom? All countries that refuse the cross wilt, and the time will come when the countless myriads of America and Australia will find music in the song of Zion, and solace in the parables of Galilee. What a tribute for a Jew to make,

In closing the course in Christian Evidences let us reconsider the proposition that there must be a candid study of the Evidence without letting prejudice and bias sway the reason, All the Christian asked is honesty in dealing with the evidence. No amount of light can sway the willfully ignorant or hatefully antagonistic. But there is the case of two men who after studying the evidences renounced their infidelity because of the overwhelming array of evidence. There were two infidels in England, who like most infidels, were ignorant of the very thing they were fighting. Not one infidel in a million knows anything about the opposite side of the question, In their common antagonism toward Christianity they decided to write two books which were to sound the death-knell to all faith in God, or the Bible, or Christ.

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Gilbert West said he would write a book against the resurrection of Jesus Christ. West was a poet and Historian (1703-1756) who knew a lot of history, but of the one most important One, of Christ, he knew nothing. Lord Littleton said he would write a book showing that Paul was never converted on the road to Damascus. They considered these two, foundations to Christianity. The resurrection of Christ and conversion. Months went by and they met again. One said to the other, "How are you getting on with your book?" Not so good, I'm afraid I don't know enough about it to write. "I think," West said to Littleton, "You’ll have to tell me some of the data," only to receive the answer, "I afraid I don’t know it. We’ll have to study the evidence from the Bible." Months later they met again. Littleton asked West, "How are you coming with your book against the resurrection of Christ?" Gilbert West said, "After my studying the evidence I have come to the conclusion that Jesus did arise from the dead and I have accepted Him as my Saviour and written my book to prove that He did arise from the dead." Littleton then acknowledged that after studying the evidence he was persuaded that Paul was really converted, and he accepted the Gospel and wrote for the affirmative. While in Washington, D.C., May 25, 1937, I looked up in the Library of Congress Gilbert West’s book in one of the first editions of 1767,titled, "Observations on the History and Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." In the introduction he tells this story I have related of his change of heart and mind after studying the evidence.























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