The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-12-13
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SUNDAY SERMON +;
y
a Scholarly Discourse d.
Rev. DR.. McClelland.


the pastor, the Rev. DR.. 7. Calvin Nc
Clelland, preached the fourth sermon
In the series on Jesus Idea" The
special subject was: Seriousness OF
Believing in Jesus Idea of God" The
text was Matthew v:44 and 40. DR..
McClelland said:
There is no Christian doctrine for
which you could get so many men to
vote as the Fatherhood of God. Moth
Ing can exhaust the name Father 1t
Is the gladdest, but the greatest, the
dearest, but the deepest, the sweetest,
but the solemnest name men can frame
to fit God. We cannot put too much
into the word, but we can put too little
into 1t. 1t is the risk Of that-of put
ting too little into the name "Father"-
which gives us our theme. The theme
is: "The Seriousness of Believing in
the Fatherhood of God"
There are two kinds OF men who put
too little into the idea of Gods Father
hood. The first man is he who prefers
TO think of God as judge. To call God
Father, he thinks. is to enthrone in
diligence. He views the doctrine with
suspicion lest it rob God of authority,
extract the fear of sin, and relieve the
restraint of conscience This man de-
plores the universal note in the preach
ing of Jesus idea of God. III he
preached il he would make 1t an ESQ
teric doctrine to be mentioned only
10 those who had been initiated by con-
version into the secrets of grace.
The second man who puts too little
Into the name Father" is he who sees
nothing in Fatherhood but sentiment.
He thinks of God as too soft-hearted to
rule, doting grandfather too weak to
punish. This man has the Idea that
love is too tender to blame a man for
edging off when goodness hurts, costs
or is Improbable. For this second
man the thought of God as a Father
makes life game, the world a play
ground and the infinite pity ground for
infinite excuse.
To these two 1 bring this message
of the seriousness of saying, II believe
in God the Father Almighty" The, e,ar-
ticle of the creed is the most precious
and the most perilous for us to repeat,
and for these reasons.
First, one who claims God as Father
must be ready to answer the question,
What kind Of a son are you? Father
hood is something that we never think
Of when we talk about animals. The
parent of boy we call a father. The
parent of a foal we call a sire. Here
Is difference. The idea father" sug
gests care, affection and forethought.
The idea "sire' conveys only the
thought of procreation. We do not eX
pect the colts sire to care for him, ex-
hibit affection or take thought for his
future But il man treated his son
as a horse treats his young we would
say of that man, he has never been
father to the boy. He had done all that
the animal did for his offspring but he
had left undone those things which
make fatherhood. And those things
involve character, they imply faith.
hope and love, they are not physical,
but spiritual, activities.
BY the same sign you never call a
young horse 'son;" he is ''foal."
The idea 'son" suggests gratitude, 10y
atty and obedience. The idea of "foal"
conveys only the thought of animal
descent. We do not expect the colt to
exhibit gratitude to his sire, to abide
In the same stable or to evidence obe-
dience to him. But IL a youth treated
his father as young horse treats his
parent we would say of that youth, he
is inhuman. He might do all that the
animal did for his progenltor, but he
would have left undone those things
which make human sonshlp. And
tAbot inNOlNt tuhlutltl, lnty
imply trust. affection and filial sub
mission, and these things are not phys
tcal but spiritual activities.
So then, fatherhood involves q rela-
tionship and that relationship involves
something owed on both sides. 1t as
sumes likeness in ideas, tastes and dis
position; it claims reciprocity In char
acter. Can the relationship with God
expect less? You see the idea of
fatherhood is like the rule about the
square of the hypotheneuse of right
angled triangle. Whether 1t be right
angled triangle drawn on child's
blackboard or q right-angled triangle
formed by three stars in the Milky
Way, the rule wOrks-the square on
the hypotheneuse of a right-angled tri-
angle is equal to the sum of the squares
on the other two sides. This father
and son relationship, like mathematics,
works everywhere, on the earth, in the
heavens.
l cannot say Father" until l have
begun to answer His call "son;" His
Fatherhood does not exist for me until
have made my sonshlp exist for Him,
until I have shared in His character.
He Is spirit and l must be spirit, too;
something more than body to be
warmed, clothed and fed; something
more than an animal to fight like n
dog, root like pig, sing like a bird or
hive like bee. / must be the child of
the Eternal Spirit. the son Of Infinite
Faith, Infinite Hope, Infinite Love.
Fathers rights are unquestloned,
absolute, ungiven. He has the right to
expect everything I'd be reclprocated
that He has given to us. The old
fundamental need of personal struggle,
personal consecration, personal holiness
Is doubled. Life Is more critical than
ever. l have no loophole to crawl out
of; the lines are tightly drawn, / must
be In my word what He Is in His uni
verse. From Sinai, 1t Is said, the
smoke ascended as from a furnace. and
the mountain quakes greatly when out
of a thick cloud with thunderings and
llghtnlngs the King gave His command
to Israel. On hillside sweet with the
peaceful odors of plowed field, quiet
save for the pipings Of the birds, under
blue Syrian sky which mirrored its
fair sun in Galilee's lake, the Father
spoke through His great Son His will
for the family. Yet think Sinais
thou shalt not kill" were easier TO
listen TO than Jesus "blessed are the
nerciful." The Kings words, thou
halt not commit adultery" less than
he Fathers "the pure in heart shall
ee God" The Sovereign's words,