The New York herald., 1870-12-26
CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH.
The Mission md Exact Position or Christi
Sermon by the Rev. Mr.. Hepwortl,.

The Mission md Exact Position OF Christ
Sermon by the Rev. MIR. Hepworth.
This now avorte resort OF the fashionable church.
goers OF Murray li was crowded yesterday as
usual, by congregation apparently as Jealous and
devout as one could wish for. MIR. Hepworth,s
text was taken from Matthew xvi. l3:-"Whom do
men say that l., the Son OF Man. am y, He began
by saying tnat the question which Christ put to his
disciples so long ago men have been putting to
each other ever since. IL was hard for those who
looked the carpenters son In the face and talked
with him TO b ,cve that he was anything more than
an ordinary man. And vet nothing is more evi.
dent than that Jesus claimed an authority far tran.
scending that which obtains with common human
1ty and the record tells that the Jews moro than
once took up stones to stone him because he gave
the impression that he and God were one. That he
did lay claim to be an ultimate authority ana In
some way connected with mans redemption no one
can deny. His exact position in the scale of being
has been
QUESTION OF DISPUTE
ever since He was Graded in Bethlehem.
There are Two classes OF thinkers both OF them
Christian, who look at what is called revelation In
such different ways that it may be well for us 10
hesitate for moment ut this point. The first party
~, compared with the great company OF Delivers
world from the standpoint Of natnralism. They are
willing to admit that Jesus was greatest and most
gifted among the great and gifted; but credit Him
with no more power and authority than belong TO
any extraordinary genius. When He is said to
have worked miracle they tell us that either
the story or the fact Is the product OF the
peoples imagination. Thus they are led TO believe
one part OF the record which they can easily COM
hsw Christ bade even the dead TO come FORTH and
they 0Deyed his voice.
THE BIBLE HAS A VERY SLENDER AUTHORITY
for the naturalist 1T takes its place among the
books ofphiosophy, and that Is all, for there can be
no middle ground. The Bible s either q Divine
OF moral science, with no more authority than any
other work Oh the same subject
from God, and this belief is not merely fact Of
faith; it is q logical deduction from history. God
Is Being who u constantly interposing IN
personages who have been our authoritative
teachers. Christ came from heaven to deliver the
VIII Of the Father, and we believe That Christ knew
OF what he was speaking and was conscious OF the
weight of His words when He claimed fer Himself
attributes which belong only To GOD. That He did
lay claim to a power equal to that which the Al.
mighty exercises no one VINO accepts the record
can easily doubt This IL
THE POINT DIVERGENCE
between the denomination to winch belong and
myself. My sympathies OH this matter, SO dear to
every Christian. are very much closer with other
bodies than with the UnLarians. l have little
patience win ~ men who mare are unwilling to prGcam
especially do l feel that am more in concert with
the great body OF believers who accept Christ as the
AnoInted the Messiah and the Final Judge OF the
world. believe not only In the Book as the great
great source Of spiritual inspiration, but IN Jesus
my personal Saviour, the very embodiment OF God
himself
Look for moment at the slender beginning OF that
system OF moral redemption which Is yet TO embrace
the whole world. When the divine Babe was man.
gered in Bethlehem VINO could have dreamed OF the
infuence His life was destined TO have9 Only they
who saw the star 1t rested over His cradle were
aware that
NEW EPOCH
in human affairs had begun. And when man null
grown He went down To the and bade the fish
ermcn follow Him, and then further on in His walks
gave the same command to u few poor artisans, who
could have dreamed that those seemingly humble
instrumentantes were to be the means, in Gods
hands, Of uprooting old systems OF tearing down
mosscovered structures OF ritualism and OF estab-
lisnng something that would reach to the uttermost
ends OF human lile2 And when He was arrested by
the mob and Crucined, did not His reign seem to be
at an end? Who could have forecast the uture
Had not the hand OF God been in the matter in some
especial manner the whole work would have ended
then and there. And because the hand, yes, and
the heart, of God were In it, we hold TINS Christmas
festival, trim our churches with evergreens ana
flowers sing aloud our antnems OF praise ana DlcsS
the Father and the >On.