The herald., 1897-06-14
christs' Discovery Of His
Messiahship
SUNDAY SCHOOL INSTRUCTION
"THE TEST OF LOVE" DISCUSSED
BY REV. DIR. M'LEAN
Father Clifford on the Holy Trinity.
Pioneer Methods of Church
Making

Yesterday morning the pastor, j. s.
Thomson, preached a sermon on
"Christ's Discovery of His Messiah
ship using the text Thou art my
beloved son. in whom am well pleased
Mark IL. When Christ was born he
was unconscious of his mission as the
Messiah of the human race. AS boy
he was ignorant of his Messiahship. Dur
ing his infancy, childhood and boyhood
he did not know that he had been sent
into the world to be the moral and spirit
ual leader of mankind. If he had been
acquainted with this fact in his early
years, then his infancy, childhood and
boyhood would have been unnatural, un-
healthy and abnormally precocious. 1t
is said in the gospels that Jesus in
creased in wisdom and in stature" and
this statement shows that his life was
natural, healthy and spiritual. He
passed through all the natural stages of
life in an orderly and beautiful de-
velopment.
At IL years of age he exhibited among
the doctors in the temple a desire to
know what he had not then learned.
Serious questions come into the minds of
boys and girls of that age, if they have
been properly brought up. Jesus knew
more when he was IL years of age than
when he was year DID, and he had more
knowledge when he was 80 than when he
was 90 He certainly did not know that
he was the Messiah during the earlier
periods of his life; but he did know that
he was the Messiah during the latter
periods of his life There must there
fore, have been a point of time when he
first discovered that he was the Messiah.
When he was baptized by John in the
Jordan it was revealed to him that he
was the beloved son of God, and that
his mission was to be the moral and
spiritual Messiah of the world. Jesus
declared frequently that he had received
all his powers and all his doctrine from
God.
Every communication which he made
to the world had been given to him by
direct inspiration from God. His Mes
sianic mission was a communication
from God. He spoke frequently of the
mission which the Father had given to
him. Jesus as the Christ, or as the Mes
siah, asserted that he was the son of
God, and the consciousness of his divine
sonship made him realize that he was
man Of destiny, that his mission was
along providential lines, and that God
and he were one so far as his mission
on earth was concerned. Although he
knew that he was the Messiah, he kept
the matter secret until the time was ripe
for him to declare his Messiahship.
When his disciples We're prepared for
their work, and when his views had been
sufficiently discussed, then he declared
his Messiahship and acted accordingly
Every child has a Messiah or Christ
In him, because every one has a spirit
ual nature. This spiritual nature should
be carefully educated until the child
becomes conscious of its divine sonship
until it feels the eternal life in it's own
soul. Christ's divine and sinless life
experienced what is called the second
birth, or the new birth. 1t should be
called the birth from above, the spirit
ual birth. In the Jordan the heavens of
spiritual things were opened to him, and
the holy voice whispered joy into his
soul. He became then in the highest
degree conscious of his sonship. Chill
dren should be trained to follow his ex-
ample in the matter of natural and
spiritual development. They should be
educated to receive the spiritual bap-
stism in the natural order of a healthy
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