The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-11-17

fraud. n ~pretender. n deceiver. APP
pearnncrs were against him.
Jesus declared that the Father sent
him and that he delighted to come in
obedience to Jehovah's will, to be his
agent and servant in the outworking
of a great plan for human redemption.
Those who deny all OF this. and who
have awakened so much confusion
amongst Christians, and have made
the Gospel of Christ impossible to the
Jew, should give an account of them
selves and explain by what authority
they contradicted the Great Teacher
"The Father is greater than l." And
when they claim that the death of
Jesus was merely a farce, and that he
as Jehovah merely stepped out Of the
body of Jesus and perpetrated a fraud
and pretended to be dead and aroused
his disciples so to think and so to
teach, and pretended later to be raised
from the dead-those who thus teach
and who thus confuse the minds Of all
plain away, il they al the plain state
ment of the Apostle that God raised
up Jesus from the dead by his own
power on the third day.
"Art Thou a King Them"
Picture the Great Teacher walking
with his twelve Apostles, a nondescript
crowd Of those who heard him gladly
not many great, not many learned
not many rich, not many noble. Hear
him telling them-those who acknowl
edge IL ,mselves to be ignorant and un.
learned Acts iv, %13)-that, if faithful
to him, he would grant them to sill
with him in his Throne" Judging the
twelve tribes of Israel" The state
ment surely seemed fraudulent, and he
had not the heart to condemn the Jews
who so misinterpreted him. st. Peter
did not condemn them, but distinctly
said, / wot, brethren, hat in igno-
rance We crucified the Prince of Life
as did also your rulers acts iii, 15-1O
Can we wonder that the learned
Jews Of that day were confused? They
did, inCeeG, h,ar of his miracles-hi
recover of sight to the blind and OF
strengtli 10 the withered hand of tho
impotent man; and, in the case of Laz
arus, at least, they had demonstration
of his power owe the dead. They per
ceived that these miracles were having
an influence upon the masses-that
they detractsd from their own esteem
amongst the people. They knew thai
many of Jesus sayings were wonder
fully wise and that his criticisms oil
their own Inconsistencies were re
markably sharp. Yet withal, they said
we know that he is a fraud, because
of his peculiar claim to be the Messiah
and the Son of God. This claim of his
and mighty works. 1t cannot be trut
that he is the Messiah that our nation
has waited for these more than siXteer
centuries. God would surely sen(
Messiah a sufficiency of demonstration
of glory and power to convince the
most intelligent of our nation, the
Scribes and Pharisees and Priests
What they all dissent from, repudiat,
and denounce, must be false.
For the Good of the Nation.
The Jewish wise men of eighteen
centuries ago concluded that a maj
who set the masses agog with antici
patton OF himself as the Messiah-King
yet was without AN army and withou'
would present their nation to the Ro
mans in II ludisrous light. AS a result
they might have taken from them, a
the word of the Emperor. the civil anC
religious privileges and rights they
We're enjoying. They took counsel an(
determined that in the interests of the
peace of the nation this golden-tongue6
miracle-Worker should either be eX
posed as il fraud or he killed. They
tried first to expose him by trappinl
him in his language in the presence o.
his followers and the multitude, Blu.
his intellect was keener than theirs
and the thrusts they made at him re
bounded t. their own discomfort anC
established his W standing in the
estimation of his followers and in The
W ~ VI III lt'l'l's INV VI ~
forts to show up the hollowness of hi
claims and their ~fraudulency and t
discourage his followers is worthy O.
particular notice. as it furnishes III
the key to the sentiment of the ruler.
and also the key to the real facts o
discern.
The Kingdom In Your Midst.
The influential Jews said. Let III
question this fraudulent Messiah re
speeding his pretentions. not with any
hope of correcting him, but with 4;
view TO opening the eyes of his follow
ers to the weakness and fallacy of hi'
teachings. Then they will see the hol
lowness of the hopes they are enter
tanning and their foolishness in leav
ing their various avOcations to be
come his followers, in the hope of sit
ting with him in his Throne. They
will see that he has no prospect of eyel
securing Il Throne and that they are
merely deludcd by him in such eXpec
tations. They inquired of him, Wher
will your Kingdom appear? How Ions
will ii be before you sit upon YOU
throne and have your followers will
you in the Throne? How long before
this Messianic Kingdom will rule il
Palestine and extend from its borders
to the ends Of the earth? After YOU
have answered us these questions We
will ask you others respecting you
own qualifications. and your subordi
nate officers: the arms for your sol