The herald., 1896-03-09
YESTERDAY At THE CHURCHES
Some of the Many Sermons
That Were Delivered
THE MIRACLES OF JESUS
The Subject For the Sermon at Unity
Church
: MIRACLES OF JESUS
Except We See Signs and Wonders We viii
Not Beii>ve-Other Sabbath Day
Addresses

mon tIpon the question, Did Christ's Mira
cIes Prove that ne was God? taking the
text, "Jesus of Nazareth. a man approved
of God among you by miracles and Won
ders and signs which God did by him in the
midst of you."-Acts 2:22. The gentle
man said:
Those people who claim that Christ's
miracles prove him to be God seem to for
get that many men are reported in the Old
and New Testament 70 have performed
most wonderful works, with the help of
God: and they also seem not to see that. if
tie miracles of Christ prove him to he God.
then the grand miracles of any other per-
son would prove that person to he God
also. Christ's first miracle was his influ-
ence upon the wild beasts in the desert so
that they could not harm him. The safety
of Daniel all night in the den OF lions was
as great a miracle as Christ's in the desert.
Christ performed miracles to feed thou
sands of people IN the desert out of a few
ioaves and fishes; but the miracle of Eli
in causing the widow s handful of meal in
the barrel and the oil in the cruise
to feed him. her, and her son for
many days, was also superhuman.
Elisha made the oil in the pot of the
widow produce such large quantities that
she was able to pay the debts of her dead
husband. And surely the mamma, and
uuails, which Moses brought to the Israeli
ties showed him to be a miracle worker
like Christ in this matter. If Christ turned
water into wine, Moses changed the water
of the Nile into blood. and he drew wafer
from rock by his word of might. Christ's
calmuing stormy lake was not greater
miracle than the word of Moses command
ing the Red Sea to divide and make a
L.. a.ali
If Christ walked upon a stormy lake at
nig I, we must remember that Shadrach,
Me- bach and Abednego walked unhurt
through the superheated furnace. The
transformation of Christ is matched in
grandeur by the vision of the hills covered
with chariots and horses of fire which
Elisha's servant saw. Christ raised from
the dead the rulers daughter, the son of
the widow of Main, End Lazarus; but
Elijah raised from the dead the widows
son, and Elisha raised the Summarizes
sou and klsha's very bones restored
to lite "a corpse that had been
thrown into The prophets grave.
Christ assembled glorously in cloud 10 the
st RS, and yet it is recorded that Elijah rose
to heaven in a whilwiDd and lie was caught
I'D in the chariots and horses of the sun.
We thus see that the miracles of Christ in
some respects can be matched by the mir
acles of the prophets in the Old Testament:
God because he performed great miracles,
or that for the same reason Joshua was
God, or Elijah was God. And yet these
men performed cosmic miracles. Joshua
worked a stupendous miracle in command
ing the sun and moon to stand still. Eliah
prevented it from raining for three years
he called fire from heaven upon his sacri-
fees and he made the lightning Kill two
companies OF men. each containing fifty
persons. These miracles and some of the
miracles of Moses were performed on a
cosmic scale of grandeur. In this respect
they were superior 10 the miracles of
Christ. Bad people worked miracles. The
magicians duplicated some of the miracles
of Moses. Judas, with the other dis
ciples. had power from Christ to heal the
sick and cast out devils. Jesus declared that
false Chrlsts and prophets would deceive
many by their signs and wonders. Satan
has the reputation of being able to do won
ders. He carried Christ to the top of pin
nacle of the temple. and he lifted him to
the top of a mountain. These two great
efforts were surely miraculous; but only a
theoiogian would believe and teach that
satan is God on account of these miracles.
Christ did not set the highest value upon
mere miracles as the expression OF power
in the hands of "A man. He said. "except
ye see signs ami wonders. ye will not be.
lieve,H and IAN evil and adulterous genera.
ton seeketh after sign; and, to the per-
sons who had performed miracles in his
name but not in his spirit. he said: "De-
part from me. ye tnat work iniquity.''
When they asked him to do miracles to
convince them that he was messenger
from God, he refused, and told them to
stud Ihe case OF Jonah in the whale &
belly. He said to tie seventy disciples who
returned, rejo'cing that evil spirits were
o5eient to them, rather rejoice because
your names are written in heaven" He
sud 10 Philip: "He that beieveth
on me. the works I d, shall he
do also. and greater works than
these shall he do;' but he did not mean
that The man who would do greater works
would be God. The glory of Christs mir
Acles is the love and tenderness which
they exhibit. He used all the power which
God gave him to cure and bless others.
He organized companies OF healers, COM
municated to them the secrets and meth
obs of healing, and sent them over the
country to cure the blind, the deaf, the
dumb, the lame. the lunatics, the lepers.
He loved to do good to afflicted humanity.
He would not call down fire, like Elijah, to
kill the Samaritans. as his disciples re-
quested him 10 do. He came to seek and
save the sick and the lost. Christs mir.
acles we're moral. They showed that
Christ was divinely superior to the miracle
working prophets Of the Old Testament.
lie never harmed any one with his power.
Moses injured and killed innocent Egyp-
tians. ]oshua's miracle in making the
sun and mool stand still enabled him to
have more time to slaughter his enemies
Elijah DESTROYED the lives of hundred
men with his lightning. Samson, with the
jawbone of an ass. murdered thousand
inen. and he died in his efforts to kill a
houseful of men and women.
Samsoa's miracles we're moral with
a vengeance. While no Christian
can doubt that Christ could have
performed far mightier miracles than
could all the prophets. and while we can
on rational, moral and spiritual grounds
deny many of the miracles of the Old Tes-
lament; yet those people who accept the
letter of the Bible and deny the spirit are
compelled to acknowledge that Joshua has
greater right to be regarded as God than
Christ has, if the miracles are sufficient
credentials for godhead. Christ was go
pure, SO true, so loving, so faithful and SO
spiritual that he could have received any
mount of force from God for the execu.
ton OF his divine mission. Legions OF an
gels were ready to respond to his commands
he mad but to pray to God tor help,
and countless agents were at his disposal.
Chrlsts borrowed power was never used
Tor show or for doing useless things: and
yet Christ always declared that God, md
not himself. performed the miracles. Il
can of mine own self do nothing.'' "The
father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the
works." 1.-THE son can do nothing of him.
SELF The sublimest miracle of all the ages
was Christ's resurrection from the dead.
That miracle brought life and immortality
to light. That miracle was the prominent
feature OF the message of the apostles
after Christ's ascension. 1t was that mira
- l. l.. A.xl II