Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-06-14
THE GREAT MYSTERY.
= lecture by Rev. W, 4. Harrison, %
ID, ia the Third PFesby teFEan
Church.

Church.
The following is the last of a series c
lectures On THE Great Mystery" by Rev
w. A. Harrison, D. D., delivered at tn
Third Presbyterian Church Sunday night
Sth inst:
1st Timothy 3: 16: "And without con
/ troversy great is the mystery of godliness
| God was manifest in the flesh, justified il
| the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto th'
Gentiles, believed on in the ord, was re-
ceIved up into glory"
This Is our closing lecture on Paul!
Great Mystery, which contains the sun
and substance OF the gospel he preached
unto the Gentiles.
In our last lecture, as you may remem-
Der, We followed the Savior in His ascent ur
to the gates of the city that hath founda-
tions, whose maker and builder is God.
We brought to bear on this fact the differ
ent passages in the Old and New Tesla
ments that relate to it, so that, if possible,
we might catch some glimpses of that gilt
tering, triumphal entrance, and mighty
cOronation-day of Christ in the heavenly
kingdom. We left Him just at the gate
where heralds were proclaiming Him,
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle" when from the long
and blazing ranks of the heavenly hosts
the shout went up in thunder, Lift up
SOuE AGhOss ~ y q SdLG5. dl1 DC J0 llILGu D.,
We everlasting doors, and the King OF
Glory shall come in"
We left the Savior just at that point at
which the petition in His microscopy
prayer that relates to His own glory was
about to be answered a. have glorifed
Thee on the earth; | have finished the
work which Thou gavest me to do. And
now, o Father, GLoRIFY Thou Me with
Thine own self, with the glory which had
with Thee before the world was"
This prayer is now to be answered. and
the first installment of the long promised
glory is now to be paid.
Let US now, bearing in mind PauPs refer
ence to a Roman triumph, follow Christ and
the army, at the head of which He is rep
resented as travelling by Isaiah, as they
sweep through the Wide-open gates into the
city.
First, the advance guard of the army
enters, composed of the angels who were
with him in his great campaign on earth
The blaze in armOr with which we mOrtals
are not familiar.
Next, follow the bands from earth and,
as we look through their long and far
flashing lines, we see no piece of armOr
with which we are not familiar. There is
Tho girdIe of truth, the . breast plate of
1.-The shield of faith, the
sword ofthe spirit" and 1.-The helmet ofsal-
vation" The tabled armor of Hercules, af-
ter all the gods had labored to equip him,
was not q match to the armor of the hum
blest soldier in those ranks In the first
band we see the early fathers of the world
before the flood, and among them Abel,
who first fell under death, and Enoch, who
first triumphed over death.
Then follow those belonging to the days
of the PatTiarchs, from the flood down to
the captivity in Egypt Among them we
see Noah, no Longer moved with fear"
and Abraham, no longer a sCjOurner in
strange country, dwelling IN tabernaces
with Isasc and Jacob, the heirs with him
of the same promise"
Then follow bands belonging to tines
reaching from the captivity down to the
settlement in the promised land. Aaron
and Moses, Caleb and Joshua are there,
nor does II repent them, that they "chose
rather to suffer afilictiOn with the people Of
God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season." The reproach of Christ, which
once fell on them, is now to them greater
riches than all the treasures of Egypt, for
they had respect to the recompense of the
reward" And Miriam too, is there sound
ing the loud timbrel for Jehovah has tri-
umphed and Israel is free"
Then follow trained bands belonging to
the days of the mighty Kings and Prophets
of Judah and Israel. Elijah is there, his
fiery chariot conspicuous among the
- twenty thousands of Chariots, and j ere
miah, but he is not weeping now. But
fail me to tell of Gideon and of Rarak, and
of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, |
and Samuel, and of the prophets"
Then follow bands from the captivity in |
Babylon down to the days of the crucitix- |
ion. Witness bearers and martyrs are
there. Daniel is among them, but not in |
lions den, the three Hebrew children are |
there, but not in fiery furnace now. Old |
Simeon Is there, but waiting no longer for |
the consolation of Israel. And lone An. |
ma" is there, still speaking "Of Him, to all |
them that looked for redemption, in Jeru- |
salem." And last among them, though not |
east is the thief who died on the cross. |
His prayer, Lord remember me Is an
'wered now.
Then follow, closing up the grand pro-
,ession, the dead Saints, whose bodies were |
'aised up at the resurrection of Christ and |
who went into the city and appeared unto |
many, they are in the procession, evil |
lences of his complete triumph over death, |
he earnest and pledge that graves and |
epulchres shall be riaed of their dead.
And, lowering over them all, we see the |
children of every tribe and tongue and |
nation, with cherubic face looking down on |
Him who, while on earth, took little chill |
iren in his arms and blessed them and said |
: of such is the Kingdom of God" And |
aces Is not weeping and refusing to be |
because they are not" There |
was no weeping there"
And now as God the Son and His army |
enter heaven, God the Spirit and His army |
pass from heaven to earth to take possession |
IF His church. How one army cheered |
he other as they passed, we can not tell. |
" hat royal greetings, what kingly saluta- !
ions passed between God the Son and |
tod the Spirit we know not But this we |
Know that as Jesus took possession of heav-
n the spirit took possession of the church
IN earth, with it to abide until the Savior |
omes back the second time without sin
into salvation.
But this is depression. We come back
o our subject
In the midst of the vast procession, now
weeping through the golden streets, their
obes ali washed white in the blood of the
ami we see .Iasus the central object on