The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-12-15

tied to His generation. not by this or that
sign or woodworking, but by His whole
! ministry, by Himself. by His lie and
| teaching. He Himself was the sign. If
| the sign of Jesus will not be to Jerusalem
| what the sign OF Jonah was to Nineveh,
would moment of astonishment at some
wonder working create spiritual certitude ?
If the sign OF Christ will not now convince
man of the eternal love OF God, what sign
from heaven will?
In asking to be convinced of the spirit.
ask the impossible A sign to prove the
spiritual must itself be spiritual. If God
asks from man love, will some celestial ap-
pearance create love. Ii God asks from
man that free allegiance of the will, could
voice from heaven or u succession OF
voices subdue the mind and capture the
heart? IF God asks for Righteousness or
loyal obedience of the life to the law Of
life could anything material generate the
moral? There can be no sign given to men
who cannot see the sign which Jesus is
Himself. He authenticates the spiritual
to us. Seeing Him We must believe in
God, or ii not how could we be made more
sure of God! Christ is the revealer of the
Father. He is the sign and symbol and
evidence or God. He is Emmanuel, the
Sign and Seal of God with us and God for
us, the proof of the divine in our midst.
There shall be no sign given to this gener-
alton other than that: there can be no
other. He is the highest sign, and if the
greater fails how can the lesser convince,
and as a matter Of fact Jesus has con-
vinced the world of God. and is convincing
the world. Through Him we, too. know
God. BY Him we have access to God. In
Him we recognize God. For His sake we
love God. The vision OF Him is the vision
of God.
This generation thirsteth for a sign. We
think it an evidence of our spirituality
that we do SO thirst. and SO we find many
modern versions of the demand of the
Pharisees. Sometimes in the name of
science, sometimes in the name II religion.
We c>Na even manufacture signs when they
seem to be lacking. Sometimes by cmuiat
ing the methods of medievalism, III which
the so.caled lives of the saints are fouted
before US. and asking us to believe in the
great realities of spiritual life because or
some material sign. Answers to prayer, it
may be, providenccs which. however CO.
gent to the individual concerned. have lit
tie meaning to others, or sometimes VIC
have a recrudescence oil the crudest spirit
ualism, spirit rapping. table turning, tea
cup manipulating, after which the devo-
tees go home feeling that they themselves
have been assisting at some act OF pro-
found worship, as if the melodramatic vul-
garisms of spiritualism could prove any
thing but the folly of the race. Or again.
we have the same claims appear in a more
pretentious garb in Theosophy;>o OR Chris
tian Science, or whatever happens TO be the
fashionable form of it 1T the time, where
esoteric mysteries c. some kind arc prac-
ticed. The root Of all such things is this
same unspiritdsl thirst for sign, after
thaumatursical wonders, faith healing and
other things pretty much on the level OF
conJuring tricks.
All, me. All this is q sign in itself.
sign OF the WEAKNESS and despair and
breakdown oil the black materialism OF our
day to satisfy the heart OF man, but 1t has
the terrible danger of inducing worse
form OF materialism sill, deceivins the
carnal heart by wearing the dress Of spirit
ull religion. How unstable it is we sec
from the constant swing OF the pendulum
now from atheism and materialism to the
most outrageous supernaturalism as in the
case of Mrs. Besant and others, and now
i'll the opposite direction from uitra-mysti-
cism TO u)tra-rationalism. The cause OF
these seemingly contradictory changes it is
not far 10 seek, as both are really based on
the same foundation-a wrong conception
OF what the spiritual is aud therefore OF
what is true evidence of the spiritual. This
generation thirsteth for sign. There shall
be no sign given to it. No ign can be
given to an unSpiritual generation which
would Judge all things by material stand.
ards, generation that is blind to the spir.
itual signs of which life is already full.
There can be no voice from heaven to men
who are deaf TO the heavenly voice OF
,.bicl tlo ,,,bnra ,--nr.ll - oiraady frll. ~
the spiritual does not evidence itself; il
nan will not see God in Christ rcccnciling
the world to Himself; ii the sign OF the
cross cannot convince the stubborn heart
ard bend it to acknowledge It's divine pow
er. II Jesus Himself is not seen to he His
own sign and miracle. His own evidence
and proof. there shall be no sign given;
there can be no sign given.
There shall be no Sign given unto tais
generation Is that the last word! Is
that the clang OF the closed door i'll the
face of a seeking soul. Master. We would
see a sign from Thee That pitiiul cry
If truly asked not as by those Pharisees,
hut craving for spiritual enlightenment
aud spiritual communion. that piti!ul cry
has ever been answered. Never turned He
away from earnest. sincere, honest inquiry
after light and. truth. He condesccndS to
our weakness when we cry. 'Oh. that
knew where might find Him He meets
Us by the way He makes our hearts to
burn within Us as We wall; with HIM. con.
vincng us oil His love, convincing lis OF
the path. showing us :he path. and it SUI
Gceth us. When the heart thirsts with a
deeper thirst than Tor a sign, when it
thirsts after the love OF God, when the
heart and f1esh cry out, He shows Us the
signs af His passion. as with Thomas, Be
hold My hands and My feet" He com.
forts us. He comforts us with the sign OF
the cross, and before that wondrous mani
festation OF the eternal love, before that
revelation of the Fathers heart. we be-
leve and worship, and adore and love, and
we say in penitence and in faith. My
Lord and my God" Do We believe?
Goods Veils."