, 1881-11-06

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER
a modification Of His own plan as to what
kind of !. death Christ should die as the long
! nr0mised at0nement. It was the pending
event The mode Of His suffering was pure
ly contingent ami nols~esSe'tial. God merely
| turned tile weakness Of nlrn ;ild the designs
of Satnn to the carrying out Of His own
great purpose. lie reatljusred His own plan
for the accomplishment of the atone
" dc s orf %ckt tS oTts5s Ghst the saw s0fss fSs
purposes OF the latter, and calmly submitted,
Tie wicked mel, who cr'1cifiett Christ cDuld
lave changed their way Of thinking and en-
bracetl Christ rs their savior. Us did the
M.uitcnt thief OH the cross. Then what
Would have become of Cl1rist's Drophesies
regarding Ills DEATH
Cod told jonah to 20 and preach in Nine
yeh .' Yet forty days and Nlneyel shall be
but but Sinevel, was not overthrown. God fore
knew that it would not. be oyertlrow,, it
prescicnee be true. God made Jonah be-
iieve that lie would destroy that city IN forty
days, and that they whn .n,. wished to save
ooed ts,5 ttSez p!uce as' vas 2ss tits aae case 'f
double dealing on the part Of Coz:
70 affirm it. were l,laspfemy against the
moral character nf God. We are therefore
compelled I" admit tat 10, Mod nrlsiHa1iy d.
fnrty days. But this. settled purpose was
cllailEeI il, view Of the repentance and itl-
initiation of its inhabitants: Jonalt's prcfic--
tio1i was not fulfilled. and Jonah was greatly
,lispfpased . In like manner WHY Iltay not tile
prophecies of Christ have been recalled lad
the wicked men round about Him repented
of their wicked purposes:
The Savior said, ''Wo unto that man by
whom the Son Of M:t t is netrayed! II M Tag
not been born" II the betrayal by Judas
was necessary to the death 0f Christ, His
death having been forellnown and forcor-
daincd. the,, tlie betrayal must have been
foreortaiuetl. How, then, could it have
been better for Judas never to have been
born. Dill lie BY his betrayal of Christ i'll
cur the Divine uispleasure and contlemna-
tiono II the betrayal We're necessary to the
con.plctlon Of thu atonenent and was there
fore foreortanet!, tile irresistible conclusion
is that God holts 4 man guilty fur III act
that was foreordained as necessary IL tile
tuEiillmcnt Of Ills own purpoSe; Such Il
conclusion is a daanuable one. The ttoings
Christ were completely contingent, and
avoit}able us any sins ever We're. Tile
theory that involves the betray-
nj in tie original plans, supposes
that God can ito evil that good can ::one, ;iI,l
me,,t of Judas and III his nttcrances to and
concerning him.
:. For Jesus knew from the beginning WHO
they were that believe. not aud WHO should
,lnbtlicf was of .}leir own vulitlon. It is mt
said that Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that would NOE believe, but
.'who they were that believed lot."' Tie
go back 10 the i1cpisllc,y Of the nnpclief IL
tile minds Ut Ills disciples. .sBe=nnin: ~
must have Il; ,letinit si.,liic;l:it,l. LII
speaking Of divorces, Christ said, ''Frolu
the beEinnln5 it - vas wa: not ST., ST.;
ton. Christ knew of tlle ulbelief from the
bcgini,ing-that is, when the disciples began
tu doubt. lie discovered the treachery
against flitu III its incipiellcy. The betrayal
immediately preceding urtbelief:- Ii Christ
knew ;lIl the time from the time lie commits
siolieu Judas that tile latter Ws EUlll:, tO bc-
ira; Him. why did lie not nnagllaninlously
rescle II Door crrlnS mortal @ from tgmptatiol
twelve, and one Of you is Il deyiL'' This. is
the language Of great surprise. Judas be-
came il d.:yit after his appointment as 4 dis
ciple. II Christ had at first known Judas to
l!aye beyn a devil. Peter could have ASKED;
''Why Hid you choose SO unwortliya mAll:''
n culationOf the reports Of the Last Sup
per show that Jesus tried to deter .]ltl;.s fruul
the perpetratio, of his contemplated! crime.
But If Christ always knew what Judas WAS
about to do, where was the proprlety i'll Ills
efsnrtS 10 rescue him:
When the pilarisees went ont and held
cou11cil how they might destroy him, Jesus
then withdrew Himself thence. This in.-
plies that Jesus knew nothing Of the meeting
The betrayal Of Christ j. the most mex
piic;lbie Ut All historic problems. But there
was 10 necessity for JUDAS to bctray Christ:
.'estts deprecated his c0ttfse and announced
friends was about to betray him. How could
lie think of resclinT Judas, and yet know
infallibly all the time that he would betray
ui,u22 - H.
fulfilled, very 9itfn are used ;'s sixaifyinS
the frequent use, III All echatic stnse, OF tile
particle translated that ~; and therefore
they very often translate the phrase under !
$50 WIS tutillctl,' or . thus |
expressive Of design, even when it refers to
the most explicit Of the prophecies. Matthew |
says Joseph took the young child lntn I
Egypt, that it might be fulfilled, Out Of |
ure a'9o,e!t by Matthew las no reference to
Christ Hosea said. "When Israel was Il.
:hilsl ulel. | loved him and called my son out /
Of Egypt
Several pages of the chapter at this point
arte given up to critical dissertation OIL the
elic aud ecbatic use Of tic Greek particf fe |
. ina" IN which very much Of the =. hair
splitting uf the olu gr;t!nillarians is i'll !
lulged iI1, without adding any force to the /
inc Ut argument ST closely followed.
. The quotation used by Matthew from ZACH
ariatl (Si., T., ~ about the thirty pieces Of
silver uscd for the purchase of the potter's
ieId, is next considered, and several passages
rom the wnr1s of recent distinguished Iii
)lc critics are quoted to prove that tile refer
.ncc Of ZacI.arial, is not ii, the least traccil-
ne ,to, tilh Messiah. and that the
.o-eallcd ''fultillnent'' is simply the accord
leiWeen an Old Testament occurrence and
he event described by Matthew. Several
llso cited, notably Psalms Xix, u. and elk.
: which are quoted and paraptrasyd by
,'eteI IN Acts j., III; '1.et bis lahitation be
lcsoIate and his bishopric let ait
,thcr takc,' but there is ITO evidence that
hey hal the slightest foreknowledsc as to
|,lttlS. The words Of the rsallnlst were ap- I
,licAhle to Judas. just us IL quotation from
shakespeare might be applicable to any event
II today. and Peter so useu them.
The snppllcations OF Christ in the garden
an only be explained OIL The hypothesis that
lie mode OF Ills deatl, as originally arranged
Iad been interfcred with By wicked men anu
:iycn I'D. Ii is impossible that lie prayed to
|