Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1903-11-05
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A DISCOURSE ENTITLED IAN OLD
QUESTION FOR THE NEW ACE"

QUESTION FOR THE NEW ACE"
The Rev. c. K. McNally Talks Instruc-
lively on q Subject of Vital Importance
to Us An-The Highest Typo of Life is
That Spent For Others.
BRooKLYN, N. Yin the Sixth Avenue
Baptist Church Sunday morning, the pas
tor, the Rev. Charles r. McNally preached
on AN Old Question for the New Age
His text was from John x:24: eff Thou be
the Christ, tell us plainly" Mr. McNally
said:
The men who asked this question we're
dead i'll earnest. They asked it because
the answer was Of vital import to them
That word 'sChrist" was laden with a
wealth OF meaning for these Jewish aues-
TONERS. Our word Christ is the offspring
inherits all the meaning that the Hebrew
embodied in his word Messiah" Around
this word for hundreds of years all Jewish
life, political and religious, had centered
The Psalmists had made it the dominant
note in many of their sweetest so,.gs Its
warp and woof Of prophetic visions, The
mother as she lnlled her little one to sleep
sang of Messianic hope. The little lad
as he came to his fathers knee asking for
tale had his imagination fired by the
story of what would be when Messiah
Cromwell or Wesley to England, and
of Washington or Edwards to Amer
5ca. was the name Of Messiah to a Jew,
for it was at once the battle cry OF his DO
htical liberties and the keynote of his re-
ligion.
The Jews as they thought of the Messiah
may be divided into two classes. those
whose conception was predominantly rel!-
gious and spiritual. and those whose
thought tho was prsdGSminantly pred S political I
were commonly blended. The more spirit
nal hoped for the deliverance of the ma
tlons from the bondage Of sin. and the re-
iiglous supremacy Of the Jewish nation
through the ministry of the Messiah, while
the less religious looked for the political
ershlp of the Messianic King. However
divergent the views, in two things all were
agreed-the coming of the Messiah meant
jewish pre-eminence. and he in his coming
| would be the especially anointed of God,
having the powers, the words and the
spirit OF God, he was to be the instrument
OF God. the voice Of Gods viii to and for
| the nation. Earlier in the history of the
| natlon the conception was more spiritual.
but by the time of the coming Of Jesus of
Nazareth their hope had lost its higher
and more spiritual character.
One morning toward the close of His
earthly ministry. when the chilling blasts
/ of winter had driven Him from the open
courts OF the temnie to a sheltered spot.
''esus, the. now far famed teacher and
| claimant OF Messianic honors, might have
been seen pacing UP and down the paved
was the feast of dedication and the faith
ers of the nation were gathered in Jerusa
lem. There was much agitation and con
tIict among them. The. fame and claim q
Many of these very men had followed in
the crowds to see and hear Him. Tho
more spiritual had felt a strange stirring
OF the soul IN response to the call of this
strange teacher to a purer and more exalt
eel lie. but surely they reasoned this could
from what they had expected the Christ
to be. The less religious were even more
puzzled. The life Of Jesus from the Great
rre comfort side was nothing to be en-
We'd. They could find nothing to explain
the aim Of this Teacher with His subver
sive teaching. OF one thing they were
sure. He was a dangerous man for while
by implication and even openly He claimed
to be the Christ, He in no way correspond
ed to their idea of what the Christ should
be. Surely He was not the Messiah OF
God! Upon what could such man as this
base such claim!
While Jesus paced thoughtfully up and
down within the porch He was quickly
surrounded by an eager, pressing crowd
some intense with yearning for assurance
I
the clouds Of stricken conscience aud the
mahcicusness Of disappointed hatred. Not
withstanding their varied feelings, all alike
We're anxious to ply Him with questions
Eagerly they pressed upon Him the vita
question How long wilt Thou hold US in
lift up our souls?' excite US, hold us be be-
tween hope and fear? "If Thou really art
the Christ, then tell us plainly" Such i
the~ inevitable question which must bt
asked by every soul when brought face te
face with the claim Of Jesus to be the
God? Was He 'the Kings Son. who
should be called Wonderful. counselor
the mighty God, the everlasting Father
the prince of peace! Was He indeed
the Christ: Or was He an imposter Or Z
weakling, illusioned by the fervor OF Hi
own enthusiasms? These questions as ole
as Christianity are vital to our day anf
hour. If He is not the Christ we may b.
done with Him and go our way. II He il
in very truth ''the anointed,'' 'sthe sent O
God, we are bound to listen to His voice
as the voice Of God, to learn His precept:
and obey.
To our question cart Thou the Christ 2
Jesus makes answer; note His words:
Il told you, bit We believe not The
Immediate appeal of Jesus was to His yer
bal attestation of His Messiahship. Al
ready He had told them that God was Hi
l
into the world in His name, to. establish
His kingdom among men, but they >woule
not believe. OF what use was its b tel
them that which they had already heart
and had refused to believe? Nor was it al
together strange that His verbal attesta
tion of His Messiahship was not readily ac
cepted, for His assertion to be one will
God was most startling one. Men giv'
credence slowly to the claims of others
they must see reasons or they will not be
lieve. Should a man come to our Nationa
Government claiming to be the Ambassa
dor of England the first thing that woult
be required of him would be that he shoult
furnish credentials. Failing to furnish
them he would be laughed at for fool
Jesus saw that He must found His claim
on something more convincing than Hi
verbal attestation. He recognized the ne
cessity for proof and furnishes that proc
in His words 3the works that / do in NJ,
Fathers name, these bear witness of Me-
This appeal of Jesus to His works as proc
that He was the Christ requires that VT
for moment examine them.
Strenuous efforts have been made during
this the new age, to read out OF the work:
of Jesus all that is supernatural and di
vine He is uninte,ligible, we are told, un
less accounted for on human grounds alone