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“I have fully-preached the Gospel of
Christ.” “I am not ashamed of the Gos’
pie of Christ, for it is the power of God
Unto Salvation.” Rom. 15:19. Rom. 1:16.
every Name as Saviour, and now we
of Christ.” “Jesus is the Name above
every Name as Savious, and now we
come to study Him as “Christ.” I think,
g
as we proceed through the week we will notice
that the different names applied to our Lord are
used with great delicacy and great accuracy and
appropriateness. When “Jesus” is used salvation
is in view. When “Lord” is used authority is
in view, and when “Christ” is used the Annoint
ed One, as Priest and King, is in view. When
Aaron was induced into the priestly office the
holy oil was placed upon him. It was a service
of utter consecration, setting him apart to the
ministry of the priest-hood. The ceremony of
annointing was for priests and kings, and
“Christ” means the “Annointed One,” annointed
of Heaven. God’s own hand had been placed up
on Him for the ministry of the priest-hood and
the authority of the king. So that the Jesus
who died to save is the Annointed One who lives
as a Priest to minister and to represent us, to
stand between us and God, ever living to make
intercession. And let me say, He is the only
Priest you need. ‘ Every Christian is a Priest in
the sense that he can go to the High Priest and
make known his wants, and in a sense that he can
approach God in the Name of Jesus. You need
no earthly Priest to whom you are to go and
confess your sin and receive. absolution. The
Lord Jesus stands out above all Priests and above
every Name. There have been great kings in the
history of the world, men who have conquered,
and then been conquered themselves by sin. Al'
exander the Great, conquered most of the then
known world, dying in a drunken debauch before
he reached the age of forty. And yonder, on the
Isle of St. Helena, Napoleon, talking with a
young man friend about the kings, said, “Caesar
and Charlemagne and I established our king
dom.” But it was on force, and the kingdom of
Caesar and the kingdom of Charlemagne have
gone. But the kingdom of Christ abides. Kings
make their appearance, they marshall armies, they
are conquered by death and often by sin. But
Christ is King eternal, and King without limita
tions. In other words the Gospel of Christ is
the Gospel of power. Other things are influen
tial. They have their effect on what may be
about them, but the Gospel of Christ is power
itself. “Tarry ye at Jerusalem until ye be endued
with power,” and the power is always associated
with the Gospel of Christ, for it is in and through
the Gospel of Christ the Holy Spirit Who is the
power works. It is the Holy Spirit in the Gos
pel of Christ that makes it power. The power of
God! Can you take in that? We talked about
lifting an acre of granite the other morning, by
compressed air. Just an acre of granite six or
eight feet thick, and it seemed impossible to
some. What about the mountain of granite as
high as the Alps? Who made it? What about
the earth, with its 24,000 miles of circumference
and its 8,000 miles of diameter, with its mourn
tains and seas. Who made it ? And what about
the planetary system and stars by the million that
the telescope reveals. Who made it? Back of it
THE GOLDEN AGE FOR WEEK OF NOV. 13
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
A Sermon by Dr. A. C. DIXON, Metropolitan Tabernacle, London
all is God. A God that can create. A God that
can bring order out of chaos. A God who can re
buke and reform what sin has marred and broken.
The Power of God. I stood by Niagara, and
wondered at the power of its current. The earth
quake shakes the world it seems. It is just like
shaking a small portion of it.
But put the power of Niagara, and the power
of the earthquake and the power that is re
presented by the mathematical world into one
great force and you have scarcely the alphabet
of God’s power the Gospel of Christ is the power
of God. Now friend, believe it. I feel just like
saying here and saying it till you believe it. If
I could make you believe it, that power would
shake this community and shake this great city.
Other things have peculiar power, but the Gos*
pel of Christ is the power of God that makes
the world and made the stars, who is working
here to make over souls, to create clean hearts,
to save from sin, to take those lives that have
been wrecked, and rebuild them into pillars of
His glory.
A Power Unto Judgment.
God has a power unto judgment. Do not for
get it friends. It is the thing that needs empha
sising in this present age of soft sentimentalism.
God has a power unto judgment. He is righ
teous. He is holy, and there is retribution. It
comes here, and it will come hereafter. And
when you strike against God in your rebellion
you strike a power that can destroy, that can
punish. That power of God unto judgment is
not to be forgotten But the Gospel is the power
of God unto salvation. Salvation from the shack
les that bind the drunkard and make his home
unhappy. Salvation from the shackles of lust
that bind the debauchee and make him vile. Sal
vation from the shackle of selfishness that make
some proud and egotistical. Salvation even from
Pharisaism and self-righteousness. The Gos
pel is the power of God unto salvation, through
faith. Not through walking on spikes, or stand
ing between hot, burning fires. Not the power
of God to those who try to save themselves, who
depend upon their works, their righteousness, for
justification. But the Gospel is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth.
Ashamed of Him.
And now let me say the Gospel of Christ,
which is the power of God unto salvation, is
a thing not to be ashamed of. It is something to
be grateful for. Something to confess in public,
something to tell the world about. Something to
let angels know about. Dr. Torrey tells two in
cidents. One was how that an old farmer gave
his boy a good education by mortgaging the
farm and sending him to college, and how his
mother did not buy a new dress or a new bonnett
for four years, but fixed up that old bonnet in
all sorts of ways to make it look respectable,
that she might save enough money to meet the
expenses of seeing the boy through college. And
how, when the graduation day approached, she
persuaded her husband to go and see the boy
receive his diploma. And how that old man put
himself into the best suit of clothes he had, took
the old worn carpet bag in his hand, went to the
train and bought his ticket for the college town,
and how, when he got off the train at the station,
and was walking up to the college building, he
saw three young men approaching, and as they
came nearer he recognized one of them as his
boy, and he quickened his pace in order that he
might greet him. And the boy did not recog
nize him, passed on, talking with his friehds, and
one of the friends said, “Who is that?” “Oh, I
suppose it’s some old hayseed from the country!”
Ashamed of him in his garb. Yes, the garb of
poverty that came from the sacrifice he made for
him. I am ashamed of that fellow. I am al
most ashamed to tell it. Ashamed of humanity
that can produce a thing like that. A monster
of ingratitude like that.
But the other incident relieves the darkness.
And I am certain every word of it is true. How
it was that that widowed mother went with her
boy to Richmond College or some College of the
South. She took in washing, sewing, other work,
that the bills might be paid. How he studied
hard and sold books during the holidays in or
der that he might help mother meet the expenses
of education. And how it was' as the Com
mencement Day approached, such as you do not
have, I think, in English colleges. It is a great
day there, when the diplomas are given in public
to the graduates of the class. And how it was as
that prominent day approached, he said to his
mother, “The Mayor of the city will preside, the
Governor of the State is coming, and we have
been invited to take our parents on the platform
with us that day, and we want you to be there,
mother.” She said, “No, child, I am hardly
dressed for that. I will not sit on the platform,
but I will be there just as proud of you as any
one.” She came early, and got a seat over near
the wall, just a few seats from the front. The
Governor was there and spoke. The Mayor
made his address, the President of the College
rose with a medal in his hand, and said, “This
medal belongs to the student who stood highest
in the examinations, a man against whom there
is not a black mark for the whole four years
course, a man loved and esteemed by the Facul
ty and by his fellow-students.” And that medal
was given to the young man of whom I am speak
ing. He rose and received it and after the com
pliments had been given and he could do what
he pleased, he walked down the platform steps,
and pushed his way through the crowd till he
came right in front of his mother, and pinned
that medal on her faded shawl, as he said loud
enough to be heard, “That is yours, mother. I
owe it all to you. If it had not been for you I
could not have come to college.” Do you know,
that crowd went wild. They just cheered and
clapped, and I think you would have joined them
if you had been there. He was not ashamed
of the one that loved him and sacrificed for
him. Are you ashamed of Christ. The Christ
that came from heaven, that sacrificed the best,
and took the worst on earth that you might have
the best in the glory? Are you ashamed of Him?
Do you fail to confess Him? Do you put your
self in the midst of His enemies? Or can you
put yourself with Paul and say, “I am not asham
ed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God unto salvation,” and I am willing to give
Him the medal of my life. I am willing to turn
over to Him all the praise and glory that are
His due, for time and for eternity. “Ye shall be
witnesses unto Me.”