The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-12-14
Jesus HIS OWN SIGN"
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev.
Hugh Black, N. A.
Mere Wonder Workisg h No Evidence Of tho
Things Christ Came to Teach the World.

byterian Church, which is a very large
building, was filed in every part Sunday
morning to hear. the Rev Hugh Back,
M A, associate of DR.. White in the Free
St. Georges Church, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Mr.. Black had for his subject "]esus His
Own Sign and Miracle" The text was
from Matthew KISS: Then certain of
the scribes and OF the Pharisces answered
saving: Master, we would see sign from
Thee. But He answered and said unto
them, An. evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after sign: and there shall no
Sign be given to it, but the sign of the pro-
phet Jonas" Mr. Black said
We gather from its source, as coming
from the Pharisees, that this question had
malicious purpose to undermine the au.
thority Of the new Teacher with the peo-
pie by asking from Him what He could
pot or would not perform, but from the
historical connection in which the evan
Iellsts place 1t the purpose was not only
malicious, but almost insulting. Our Lord
bad been in the pursuit OF His benefcent
healing ministry, had cured many suffering
men and women, and the Pharisees' expia-
evil source; He did it, they asserted, by
virtue of His connection with Beelzebub,
the prince of devils. And now, after this
explanation of the signs and wonders
Jesus did among men they came with the
insulting question, Master. we would see
did they want, and what sort of evidence
could convince them if they could attrib-
ute His healing ministry to diaboic art?
The yelled insult of the demand is the
superclious passing over OF all He had
been and of all He had done, as il it did
not count and al. if He must now begin to
do something of sufficient magnitude to
convince them that His pretensons were
trustworthy.
Now there is a demand for evidence
which is legitimate, evidence which is
necessary for the highest faith, but in this
case, apart from the hypocrisy of the ques.
tion; there underlay wrong conception of
revelation and wrong conception Of the
nature and the place OF miracles. They
wanted Christ to perform some prodigy, as
II piece OF wonder-working could be real
evidence of spiritual things; hence, our
Lords rebuke. 1t is religious rebuke.
God should be recognized for what He is,
and the recognition of Him should not be
dependent upon external signs, which in
themselves, after all, have no spiritual sig
niticance,. Chrst's feeling as regards this
Is seen through graphic touch recorded
by st. Mark, who writes that when the
Pharisees came seeking sign from Him
Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit. It
showed to Him lamentable dullness of
soul, to think that the recognition Of the
spiritual should be made to hang on prodi-
Yies and on mracie-mongering of any kind.
"There shall no sign be given unto this
generation" This attitude Of our Lord,
notice, is. not contradictory to the value
He elsewhere placed on miracles as evil
dence. He pointed, you remember, to His
deeds Of mercy to authenticate His claims
when, as in the case OF John the Baptist,
there was sincere desire to know the
marks of the Messiah, but His miracles
were moral acts to educate and to reveal
not to surprise and to astonish. He knew
co1 hat - ,,ooo;h1a
for men to believe in the reality of miracles
and at the same time lose all its true evi.
dental force, even to ascribe it to evil
powers as the Pharisees did.
"There shall be no sign given to curios.
ity mongers." There can be no sign given
to those who imagine that the spiritual
can be proved by the material. Mere Won
der working is no evidence of the things
which Jesus came to teach the world. Men
are not to be led to God. then or now
men are not to be led to God, in the sense
that Jesus meant--by displays and conjur-
ing tricks. The demand of the Pharisees
showed a radically false idea of the whole
nature and place of the miracle and the
same mistake is possible to us, and possi-
BILE to us in many ways and forms. We
make the same mistake, for example, when
we think that faith in God would be easier
to us if only some portent were vouch-
safed to us; if only we could see some ply
hlcdl tNlucHCt, especially ueSlS1eu 10 cOu-
vince us. We fall into the Pharisees' error
and merit their rebuke when we sigh for
the certitude which we imagine would
come from celestial appearance or from
voice from heaven, or II we could put our
finger into the print OF the nails.
To understand Christ's attitude on this
question we need to have our minds dis
abused OF the idea that q mere miracle in
The sense of prodigy is ever evidence of
spiritual things. Some miracles are signs
indeed, but only when there is spiritual
evidence in them: that is, when they are
more than mere wonder-worliing, which
the Pharisees here desired. For example.
our Lords healing ministry was q great
and constant sign of the love OF God car
rying a revelation with as truly as any low
ing word of the Master ever did This let's
light in upon the true way in which to
view the whole question. Our LorfE mir
acles cannot be separated from tn, great
revelations of His whole life and each
ing. His words and His works areNeo-re-
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 IL weight,
fnd therefore to make it creditable; not
unexplained occurrences testifying in a
snysterious 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
81 in words, moral and spiritual in their
effect, not evidcntial at all, except by the
way. Thry are an inte"ral 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 manifesta-
ton OF Christ; they are not guarantees OF
His message as the Pharisees here meant
them, but part OF the message itself, as
much evidences of Gods love as His pra.
cious. tender words are or ever could be
therefore Christ's miracles are never to be
conceived OF as mere displays of power
lie pcrsistently refused from first to last
so work wonders to make men believe il
is not that the demand for evidence il
wrong, it is a natural demand that proof
should he given of All claims, hut we must
make sure what really is evidence A mir
sclc is in itself no proof OF n moral truth
and y miracle can never in itse'f engender
spiritual faith--not II one rose from the
dead would It necessarily imply the exist
tree Of God aud the soups Immortality
Of course. it is true that every miracle was
slgn--a sign designed to induce to spirit
nal results, TO lead men to God. bat, like
the teaching itself, they could find no foot
ing N the sou, of man except through
spiritual susceptibility in the man himsu@.
We rightly ask for evidence, brt whal
evidence. and evidence cs what? We sa,
we wonid believe in Christ II only W. coult
be convinced, but convinced how, and he
lieye what about Chyisty Men haye some