The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-13
DOBBS BREACHES
 FAREWELL SERMON Bids Highlands Congregation
 Afectisnate Farewell HIS TEXT FROM MATTHEW Emphasizes Importance To Every Man of the Question, "What Think
 Ye of Christ 7"-lmport-
 ance of Home Training.
HIS TEXT FROM MATTHEW


 terday at the morning service his lastser-
 mon as pastor of the Highland Methodist
 church prior to his departure for Kansas
 City, where he will fill the pulpit of the Cen
 tral Methodist church. Through his faithful
 and untiring labors as pastor of the
 Highlands church MT. Dobbs has gained
 & host of friends and admirers and his
 call from this city is generally regretted.
 In few simple and well chosen re-
 marks before the dismissal of his congre-
 gation yesterday morning MT. Dobbs bade farewell, expressing his appreciation of the manner in which he had been en- couraged and aided by his co-workers. T have striven to do all In my power In the religious field as pastor of this church," said the Rev. Dobbs, land re-. gret that I am called upon thus early to vacate my pulpit. My experience while
 connected with the Highlands church has
 been a pleasure and a profit to me from the start and I regret very much to be transferred to a new field.
 'I wish to express my hearty apprecia- ton of the kind and courteous treatment
 have received at your hands at all
 times, and bid you all farewell. May God bless you. one and all"
 Farewell Sermon.
 In his farewell sermon MT. Dobbs was most impressive. all his hearers being deeply moved by his fervent address. Tho text was taken from Matthew, 22:42: What think ye of Christ2' The sermon dealt with the great importance of the
 answer to the question put by Jesus to
 the Pharisees as to what was their real
 opinion of Christ and the gospel.
 He spoke in part as follows:
 Some lessons that must be taught in
 this life are learned reluctantly; some
 great questions seem of minor importance
 and are soon forgotten. But there is one question which may be put by mere suS- gestion or by the inner working of a
 mans conscience and still fail to lose a tithe of its effect. This question is that
 asked with such directness in the text, What think ye of Christ? It Is a ques- tion that may have a tremendous Cp- heaving power in the life of a man, that l may totally alter life or completely | revolutionize nature
 "It is the lesson of life that teaches l we must learn the lessons of the centuries
 and years that have passed, those that
 have occupied the thoughts of men since
 the beginning of the world. and not those
 that confront us temporarily and are not 1 of lasting value. The greatest problem 1 that we may encounter is that of the
 ultimate judgment; that is the only quss- l ton worth while. In asking the question of the Pharisees, What think ye of Christ?' Jesus caused the men interro- l gated to be divided into two classes, those who were for Him and believed in His word and those who were against Him and were disbelievers. This simple in quiry, free from all doubtfulness of meaning, recurs with peculiar force after the 2OOO years that have elapsed since Christ lived on earth. We hear the oues- tion this morning, in the still small voice of the Saviour and from the depth of our consciences, What do you think of Jesus Christ2
 There is no lodging or evading this question, no deferring CT postponing an l answer. The question Is exceedingly simple and applies to all alike. No pe- culiar doctrine or creed, no one denomina- | ton is involved. It forces itself upon man, so that he and he alone must an- | swer.
 "The realization of a new truth creates | in a man a new character and alters a mans relations with other men. In like | manner the realization of the truth of this question and an attempt to answer the question honestly is Instrumental in moulding a mans destiny in this world and in the next. Our days are numbered.
 Most of US believe that the future world holds in store for us pains and delights. Our eternal destiny Is made up of two things, the thoughts we think in this world and the deeds we enact. The time is now at hand then when we must de- terrnine what we are to be in the world to come. It behooves us now to give all thought to the problem of our ultimate
 destiny and to answer directly the quss- tion that is asked in the text.
 Need of the Twentieth Century. "As we look around us today we can not but note the great increase of the evils and wrongs of society. The rich
 are becoming richer, the poor are be- h coming poorer; the great middle class that n6S Deen TUT dScS tiio OdChDOuo OL nations Is becoming thinner and thinner and seems on the road to total anni-
 hilation. We feel the need of voice that will speak and carry its message across the universe In the help of Christ is our only salvation. By His aid and His alone shall be solved all
 the perplexing problems that confront us today.
 "It behooves us moro and more, there fore, to answer honestly and fairly the question that is put, What think ye of ChristT We hear the mighty voice 1 of Jehovah as none before us has heard l Greater masses hear the voice and seek 1 for the truth. The whole world seems 1 to throb as though impelled by some power from beneath. God is ever in the right He makes no mistakes. The great arm of the clock of God revolves uner- 1 ringly as the ages roll past, and when ! that clock strikes at the day of judg- ment those who have not believed in Him shall find that He indeed makes no mis- takes.
 The Question In the Home. Many fond parent has earnestly be- seeched his pastor to aid in tho sav- ing of his son or daughter from perdi- tion when he knows in his heart that I.o bau failod in hia dY,fu fo tba cht,d