Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1906-05-03
CHARACTEROF JESUS.
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
An Eloquent and Thoughtful Dis
course by The Rev. DR.. n. M. San
ders.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-At the Washington
Avenue Baptist Church, in the absence
of the pastor. the Rev. DR.. Robert
Macdonald, the pulpit was occupied
Sunday morning by the Rev Henry M.
Sanders, D. D., Of Manhattan. The
prea cher's subject was "The Character
of Jesus His text was Matthew
xxii:42: "What think We of Christ?
Whose Son is He:" and he said:
The character of Christ is the ulti-
maze fact in Christianity. 1t is the
central citadel of our faith. What
Hugomont was to Waterloo the charac-
ter Of our Lord is to our religion.
Around it the fiercest fight and blood
lest carnage ragged, but 1t was found
impregnable, and because it was not
captured Napoleon was defeated. So
the character Of Christ stands to Chris
tendon. II it could be shown to be
false all would be gained by its foes.
but that character stands because it
comes out of the flames of criticism.
without SO much as the smell Of fire
upon it's garments. Who Christ was
and what He was, therefore. are Ques-
tons that have not lost their interest
for mankind. Ever Jesus Christ is the
most powerful spiritual force. He is
to-day what He was for centuries. the
object of the love and reverence of the
good; and the cause of hope and repent
ance to bad: of strength to the NOR
ally weak: inspiration to the despond-
ent; consolation to the desoiate; cheer
to the dying. He has been the incen-
tive of the most unbounded benevo-
lence, the most seif-sa crificing devo-
ton, the Infinite within the limits OF
our humanity, and faith has beheld in
His sufferings the sacrifice for human
sin. Surely no other has done such a
work as this. He is to-day the worlds
imrerishable wonder; it's everlasting
problem. The man who would assail
our faith with any degree of success
must do it through the Founder.
want to direct your attention to some
of the features of that character which
strike Us as being unique.
In the first place, it is the fawless-
ness of that character. He completely
satisfies our ideal of human virtue.
You cannot think of God as being
lived a perfectly sinless life at all
points. We shall seek in vain for any
trace of sin in that life which would
| pride, ambition, covetousness. malice
| paltering with truth, no deviation from
the most exact rectitude. It was life
of the highest purity, Of the most inn
partial equity, uncalculating self-sacri
| flee and sternest veracity. And yet oul
Lords faultlessness of character does
! not rest upon our inability to detec'
evil. In the first place, He never &C
| T. 111r% 1Sv,n<
| Himself free from every kind OF sin
either Of commission or omission. Si1
is the transgression of the law or any
want Of conformity thereto. But Jesus
! never left undone anything He ough
| to have done. He said, Il have giori
| fed Thee on earth,' and Il do Away
the things that please Him." Fl.
! throws down the challenge. "Whic!
of you convinceth Ne of SIM"
Then, again. the faultlessness stand
the test of intimacy. mo man is
hero to his valet" said Thackeray
When Whitfield was asked whether I
certain man were Christian, he said
''How do know? have never live
with him." But the people who live
with Jesus are the most outspoken il
the expression of His holiness. job
declares that He was "A lamb withou
spot or blemish." Such was the test
mony of friends. His sinlessnes
stands the test of enmity, of those VIII
lay in wait to entrap Him, and ye
their testimony is explicit. PLATE d.
clared: 81 find no fault in Him." th
centurion who superintended the cruc
fixion said, '"Truly this was the Son {
God,'' and the traitorous disciple d
clared that he had betrayed inpoce1
blood.' When we look into the life {