Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-12-04
NATURAL AND spiritual CHRIS
.. TIANITY.
TCorrespondenee of NY. Herald. I

TCorrespondenee of n. Y. Herald.1
The apostle Paul uttered great
truth when he said, : That is first
which is neutral, afterward that which
is spiritual. and as we have borne the
image of the earthly, so also shall we
bear the image of the heavenly"
Christ was prophecy of the man OF
the future. He was the man of the
future-tbe restored man ofthe future,
living in Divine order, moving in the
currents of the Divine affections, He
lived on the higher plane Of existence;
while the Jews spoke of God as their
father, parrot like, He called God His
father from an interior conscious ex-
perience. The hidden forces of nature
and spirit were disclosed to His gaze;
He saw in the lily of the field, the
sparIow, the hen and her brood, the
tender, watchful, loving care of the
All Father who is in the perpetual
endeavor to restore and save all who
will receive that iove into their hearts
and lives. That is the reason why He
was not understood by the Jews. He
was to them an enigma; while men
looked at things only on the exterior,
He looked at the interior of all things.
The seeming righteous Pharisees. the
keepers of the law in its letter, were
To Him whited sepulehreS, full of dead
mems bones, because they redevoid
of any spiritual principle. He called
things by their right names; He ex-
posed the shams, deceirs and hypoeri-
sizes of the times, consequently He
excited the hate and contempt of those
i'm authority. That Christ was not
understood, even By His disciples and
immediate followers, think must be
apparent to every student of the New
Testament. And why? Because the
interior degree of their minds were
closed. They lived and acted from a
spiritual principle, it is true, and were
accepted of Him but the opening of
the interior degrees of the spirit were
reserved for the man of the then fu
ture age. That the apostles did not
Understand the true nature and mis-
sion # Christ, read their history in
the Acts of the Apostles and in theiI
Epistles. See their narrOw-minded-
ness in thinking that the new king
iOm was to be confined to the Jewish
nation. Note their surprise when the
gift of the Holy Ghost was bestowed
upon the Geutiles. They had to re-
reive the truth little by little that
God is the universal Father and Christ
the divine humanity. Humanity
without the spirit of Christ is the mau
pOssessed of a legion of devils, the
man out of whom Christ cast the le
zion of devils. Clothed and in his
right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus.
IL humanity restored to divine order.
We do not blame the apostles for their
arrow mindedLess, nor do We find
ault with them for not grasping the
great truths uttered by the greatest OF
all teachers. 1t WAS the fault of the
times they lived in. Our object is TO
show that the revelation of truth and
its reception is gradual. Christ Him
self told His disciples that He had
many things to tell them. but they
could NOT hear them now; but the
time would come when He would
plaiuIy. show them OF the Father.
That lime we hold is now beginning
TO come. We are now in the day dawn
of that time-the morning of new
aye is upon US.
But who shall abide its coming
Who shall be able to bear the splen
dors of its MONDAY glory 4? They, only
they, who are seeking the living
Christ, the risen Lord: not they who
90 to the sepulchre of the dead past
10 find Him. He is not there. The
angels said, F" he is risen,h and hu
maiIity must rise with Him if they
would obtain their highest destiny,
their chiefest tgOOd-restOration to di-
vine order That the human mind is
being more unfolded I think must be
apparent to every one. Look at the
rapid advances being made in the
knowledge of the sciences. The hid
den forces aud secrets of the natural
world, which for ages have been sealed
and locked up, are being exposed to
mans wondrOus gaze. The system of
astronomy, the circulation of the
blood, the motion of the earth, and
many other things too numerous to
mention, are all better understood
now than when they were first made
known-in fact, they are very simple
truths, taught 10 every boy and girl
at school. But they were great truths
when first made known. Great minds
are prepared tor the reception Of great
truths. else the masses would make
no advancement. The Lord works
rom ceuIers 10 ciFcumferences. We
fiud il is a universal divine law in all
thiuss. even to the most minute atom
IF matter. So they whU make the
Lord The center of their lives-wh0 |
seek Him in heart earnestness-He |
works in them from their center Their
will prineipIe) To the ciTcumferences
= hlfNaor rnarGQllrsu n.
tbem the mysteries of His kingdom, |
giving to them, day by day, their
lIaily bread, the truth they need and |
are able 10 ultimate in daily life. AS |
lie natural degrees of the mind are |
being opened TO an extent hi herto /
30 the degrees Of the Spirit 4
are being opened in all who are able
10 bear IT, with increased responsible
ilies. In this nIanuer Christ Is com
ing a second time To His people; com
my in power and great glory, giving
Lhen angels fOOd-the truths the an
,els know; coming, too, in the clouds
If the literal SENSE OF the Divine Word;
v withdrawing the veil which has hiIh-
rio hidden the future world, reveal
my wonder upon wonder, and tue
great truths pertaining to mans spirit
laI nature, the laws aud nature of the
.uIritual world, and the nature and
mode of t, e Divine existence, solving
.be problems winch have batfied aud
i,ylded the Church of the past. This
is the crown Of all prophecy;
L is the tabernacle OF God with man
4 Is God with US. the history Of the
Church of the past is the history OF
1aturaI Christianity. The present
.hurches belong To the past, and are
,r,ly useful 50 far as they lead men to
he reception of the spirit of the
.,burch of the future, for that Is first
which il natural, afteIward that
which is spiritual, and as we have
,orne the image Of the earthly, so also
hall we bear the image Of the heav-
,nly. H. Q.
rHE POWER OF THE AFFIRMA-