Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-12-22

acles cannot be separated from the great
revelations of His whole life and teach
ing. His words and His works are core
lated: the miracles are not to be looked on
as. isolated exhibitions Of power, but as
themselves contributing to the revelation.
They were not signs, but vehicles of teach
ing. They are not signs externally at
tached to the teaching to give It weight,
and therefore to make it creditable; NOT
unexplained occurrences testifying in a
mysterious fashion to the possession of di-
vine power; they did not evidence the
teaching, they themselves are the teach.
ing: They. are parallels in action instead
of in words, moral and spiritual in their
effect, not evidential at all, except by the
way: They are an integral part of the rev.
elation Of the love Of God in Christ Jesus
our Lord. They have an essential place in
the whole round Of the Christian revela,
tion as fruits-fruits of the pity Of God,
as manifestations of the divine love and
wisdom; they are part of the manifssta.
ton Of Christ; they are not guarantees OF
His message as the Pharisees here meant
them, but part of the message Itself, an
much evidences Of Gods love as His gra
cious, tender words are or ever could he,
therefore Christ's miracles are never 20 bs'
conceived of as mere displays of power
He persistently refused from first to last
to work wonders to make men believe. II
IS not that the demand for evidence Il
wrong, it is natural demand that proof
should be given of all claims, hut we must
make sure what really is evidence. A mix
acle is in itself no proof of moral truth
and miracle can never in itself engende3
spiritual faith-not if one rose from thi
dead would it necessarily imply the exist
ence OF God and the souls immortaIity
Of course, it is true that every miracle was
sign-a sign designed to induce to spirit
ual results, to lead men to God, but, liks
the teaching itself, they could find no foot
ing in the soul Of man except through
spiritual susceptibility in the man himself
We rightly ask for evidence, but wha
evidence, and evidence of what? We sa-
we would believe in Christ if only we coul:
be convinced, but convinced how, and ia
lieve what about Christ? Men have some
times asked, with an injured air, why the!
could not be convinced by an unmistakabls
sign from heaven, why Christ if He shoult
be what He claims could not break down
by supernatural means the barriers Of 11n
belief and forctb'y open the door Of th
heart and find entrance? What would
such an entrance be worth morally? A.
mere sensuous OF intellectual qualification
which might come from sign from heav-
aimed at by our Lord. What would per-
suade the caraal mind Of the spiritual,
whata not the carnal, surely. Not if ono
rose fro mthe dead. Christ was accred-
tied to His generation, not by this or that
sign or woodworking, but by His whole
ministry, by Himself, by His life 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 a 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
ual by some impression Of the senses we
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? If God asks from
voice from heaven or a 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 if not how could we be made more
Father. He is the sign and symbol and
evidence Of 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 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