THE SABBATH HOUR

Northern Advocate, 27 July 1935, Page 6

THE SABBATH HOUR

TEXT FOR TODAV.

THE COMFORTER,

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.T-Isaiah 66:13.

BEHOLD THE MAN!

Sermon preached at Trinity Congregational Church, Whangarei, by Rev. Wm. Heather.

Text: Pilate said, “Behold the man!” —John 19:5.

And when they looked, what did they see? A man of the people obviously, despite the purple robe, and one tired out by the trials He had gone through that night, with the marks of ill-treatment upon His face and His back; the crown of thorns on His head and-not a friend to stand by His side. How true the words, “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrpws and acquainted with grief.” There He. stood at the head of the stairs of the Castle Antonia leading to the temple courts, looking down upon the multitudes who filled them, a man hated by the leaders of the people, denounced by’the mob, scourged by the governor, mocked and crowned with thorns by the soldiers, betrayed, denied, deserted by His disciples, delivered up to die by God, soon to be crucified between two thieves, with the * sneering superscription over His head, “This is the King of the Jews.” Not much to look at, was there? Many beholding might say, “What a ghastly failure!” But, I suggest to you on the contrary, that as we look through the mists of ages at the central figure, in the' history of humanity, we may say with a new meaning, “Behold' the man!” as for all the outward appearances we here behold the ideal of manhood the one perfect man as well as our Saviour and Lord. Note therefore:

I. —The Strength of Purpose Shown. As a boy of 12 He had asked: “Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” In the course of His ministry He had said: “My meat is to do 'the will of God, and to finish His work.” Now, notwithstanding the rejection and the forsaking, the trials and the condemnation. His purpose is unaltered. He ends as He began. He endured the Cross, despising the shame. “ That is what we call heroic perseverance in the case of the explorer, the inventor, the soldier. Sometimes we boast that it is the secret of the Englishman that he doesn’t know when he is beaten. A popular author wrote: “It is dogged that does it!” No weak man is thus persevering. The cause thus championed does not go down. This man can do and dare and die, but He cannot deny Himself or His cause. It is fitting that in the New Testament He is represented as saying to a much tried church: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give, thee the crown of life!” His followers can do this, in His strength, for the Master has shown them the' way. The noble army of martyrs and many humble servants of Christ have proved this, and by their example say of him: “Behold the man!” 11. Mark the Self-control Displayed. Jesus knew who and what He was, and others, too, were convinced that He was no ordinary man. Only a short time before, Peter, speaking for the disciples,. said: “Thou art the Christ of God.” As He hung upon the Cross the chief priests scoffed; “He saved others. Himself He cannot save,” while Pilate declared: “I find no fault in Him.” Yet He neither resisted nor showed resentment or impatience. “When He was reviled He reviled not again.’' He went as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb. He opened not His mouth. He endured it all without a word, not because He couldn’t help Himself, but because He would not depart from His role of the Son of Man, the suffering Messiah. He kept Himself in hand. He answered His accusers with the splendid eloquence of His silence, to their taunts with the prayer: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He committed Himself to Him that judeth righteously, trusting God for vindication, not afraid for His reputation, or fearing loss of prestige, believing in the triumph of the right and willing to wait for God’s time and way of bringing the truth to light. What a con-

trast He presents in this to many men of strong determination who cannot j be turned back by anything, but who have no patience to wait, who must justify themselves, and who cannot bear provocation or persecution, who perhaps spoil what would be a great influence for good by losing their tempers or making some unworthy demonstration. A wise Old Testament saint said: “He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city.” A wise man said it. The All Wise One proved it, put it into practice, translated it into life, thus showing a second mark of greatness in that He was strong where many are weak and fail in consequence, although neither cowards nor weaklings otherwise. Thus, again, we may exclaim in adoration: “Behold the man!” 111. —The Self-sacrifice Manifested. „If we ask why was this strength ot purpose and self control shown in suffering as in service by this wonderful person? the answer is that it was for us men and our salvation, or We may say with Paul: “He loved me and gave Himself for me.” He came to do His Father’s will, Who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, and “commends His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Here we see in the self-sacrifice of Christ,, the great example of the fact that when rightly manifested self-sacrifice wili ■ often effect results which nothing can bring to pass. To bring men back to God, give a second chance to the weakest and worst of men, and to demonstrate the love of God to us, Christ became obedient unto death, yea the death of the Cross. The Son of God thought it worth while to give up equality with God, to live as a man and to die as a malefactor. How valuable, then, in God’s sight, must be the salvation of man from sin which men so lightly commit, and is it possible that anyone, realising this, should neglect so great salvation? There is a well known story of Charles Lamb which illustrates the conclusion I am trying to reach. Lamb and his friends were one day talking of serious subjects, when he said: Suppose that Shakespeare or Dante or some other of the great ones of the past were- to come into the, room, what should we do? We should rise to our feet to do them honour. But what if the Lord Jesus Christ should enter? We should fall down to worship. Friends, He is here according to His promise, “Where two or three are met in My name.”' Shall we not, then, simply in Him behold the man, man as God meant him to be, but also, with Thomas, exclaim: “My Lord and my God,” and seek grace to follow and serve Him, in. all things until the end? THE CREED OF THE SCIENTIST. (By Silent Peter). Dear People' Man’s search for the truth is as old as the face itself; and no one is more ready than is the present-day scientist to accord all honour to research workers of the past who made up in blood and tissue what is now accomplished without any such sacrificial toll. The French scientist Clairaut entered in 1757 upon calculations regarding Halley’s Comet, which was, of course, at that time expected on one of its “round trips;” Assisted by a French colleague, the wife of a chronometrist, Clairaut set out to divide the orbit of the comet into degrees, each degree requiring as enormous a set of calculations as the whole orbit. The two collaborators in this immense work were employed upon their computations during the whole of six months, from morning to night, even including meal times! Although not actually correct in regard to the exact day in 1757 set for the passage of Halley’s Comet, the only wonder is that they should have been so accurate, for (as Clairaut. himself said), “a body traversing fifteen hundred million miles through the Unseen Universe beyond man’s sphere of observation, might easily be acted upon by the movement of some other planet at present unknown.” Twenty-five years later, the planet Herschel was discovered, and which it was proved did actually operate in producing the effect outlined by Clairaut. The selfsacrificing drudgery laid at the altar of Truth by Clairaut and his colleague would nowadays be obviated by the giant calculators which have recently been declared “open for business” in Cambridge, Manchester and Massachusetts.

The solution of computations and problems which have in the past necessitated days, weeks and months of labour are a matter of hours and minutes only in the “hands” of the electrical differential analysers and algebraical calculators now in use by scientific institutions. The advantages accruing from the new giant machines are not in the best interests of “abstract” science alone. One large-model calculator, with its thousand pulleys and its more than 500 feet of steel tape, is capable of dealing with ten variables connected by ten equations. Its work is of “incalculable” assistance in the solution of problems such as the determination of stresses in buildings and the adjustment of triangular networks in surveying; problems which have in the past required long and tedious computation. The realm of the electrical calculator is one of wide physical and statistical application to the immediate practical service of mankind. The scientist, in his search for the twentieth-century translation of the Holy Grail, recognises and welcomes mathematical and algebraical robots as strong allies in the cause of bringing nearer to all men that Truth which lies at the root of hai'monious being and doing, that Truth which is the basis of all reality. “I believe!” cries the scientist, “that even machinery can play a part in helping man to draw nearer to the Truths of the Creator.” Yours as ever. (To be continued.)