The Evening critic., 1882-01-09
INTERESTING DisC0URsE.
vl,e Diyini,y Of Chrisi.

diVe Church oh yesterday morning. The
seiinon was a reply TO the one delivered by
pr. shippeii at the Unitarian Church. ON
the previous Sunday, and the text selected,
Matt xvi. 15-16' But whom say ye that
{ am. aud Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of thc Living
God"
Various estimates have been made Of the
person of Christ The Unitarian doctrine,
as announced by DR.. Shippeu, is that he
was the messenger or representative of God,
hut not the Eternal God who made heaven
and earth. The Deity of Christ" he says,
is not found in the New Testament" Two
questions were asked by our Lord on the
occasion referred to in the context. First,
Whom do men say that |, the Son of Man,
ami p Second, that OF the text, But
whom say ye that l amp
Manifestly the form aud substance Of the
second question imply the defectiveness of
the answer to the first, which was that He
was Prophet, John, the Baptist, Elias, or
jeremiah.
The second question is addressed to the
Apostles, aud Christ said of Peters an
swer, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed
il unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven" and this is followed by COM
mand that they should tell no man that He
was the Christ. What says this answer?
"That He was human and divine; that in
His person the Infinite, Eternal, Almighty
God is united TO the finite, created and de.
pendent man; that He is very God and very
man" That it did not refer to His Mes
sahship. His appointment to the office of
ambassador is only too evident. First. Be-
cause this already known and confessed by
Peter and the Apostles, who for more than
two years had been His chosen followers,
seeing His miracles and who had explicitly
recognized His Mcssiahship in John vi, 90,
they said: eve believe and are sure that
Thou art that Christ, the Son of
the Living God" Second. Because they
were forbidden to tell any one that He
was the Christ, prohibition utterly mean
ingless lift only meant his Messiahship
since he publicly exercised the duties of
that Office thereafter and made no conceal
ment of his claims. Third. Because this
knowledge of Christ was revealed from
heaven, was such as flesh and blood, that is
man, could not attain tOof himself. Yet the
Apostles had already attained to the
knowledge both Of His humanity and Mes.
siahship, and needed DO divine revelation
on these points. Fourth. To Peter thus
confcssing Him Christ said: "On this rock
! will build My church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it," The en-
tire context shows that this confession of
Chvist had an Importance not surpassed by
any one, and unequaled save by few.
What says the New Testament of Christ?
In Matt. l., 49, He is called Emmanuel.
That is, "God with u.s." Isaiah in Old Tes-
| lament ix., 6, had said; His name shall
| be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty
l frha Ex-orla ctiptr Eathar Tho pripaa nf
| Peace" In Xiv, g. we read " | am the
| first and the last, and besides me there is
| no God In Rev. xxi, 10, Jesus says: "
am the first and the last" Paul said
.ChIist is over all, God blessed forever"
Thomas, My Lord and my God" John
says: "In the beginning was the Word,
| and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made
that was made" In Col. l., 49, we read
"For by Him were all things created that
are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
and invisible" In Heb. j., 10: "And
Thou, Lord, in the beginning laid the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the work of Thine hands,
What says Jesus Of Himself? "AU thing,
that the Father hath are Nine" In John ".
He healed sick man on the Sabbath
wbereupon the Jews said " He had broken
Father worketh hitherto and | work
Therefore tine Jews sought to kill Him be-
cause he not only had broken the Sabbath
but said also that "God was His Father
making Himself equal with Cod Her,
is their charge against Him-an awfu
crime if He was not God, and which, il
that event, ought to have been instantly
and emphatically disclaimed But, so IA
flom this, He says: The Son can do moth
| - t,,E ,l.af To Ia.
Father do; for whatsoever things Ill
doeth these also doeth the Son likewise.
Here He says: "The Son has no indepen
dent action-He is one with the Father; III
secs and does what the Father does"
The same allegation was made agains
Him in John X. 30. Having said, "I ant
My Fatherare one they were about t.
stone Him, and when He asked the caus
they replied, because Thou, being man
maketh Tbyself God The Jews said t
Him once, "Thou art not fifty years oil
and hast Thou seen Abraham? ?' He said
Before Abraham was, am" When Nose
was told to go to Pharaoh with messag
from God, and asked, "What is Thy name?
God answered, 81 am that / am"-that il
"The Eternal Self-existent, Uncreatc
One" This name Jesus took. In his con
versation with Philip, when He said "H
that hath seen me hath seen the Father,
DIR. Shipper tells us He only meant h
say -" He that hath seen nae hath seen tn
ambassador of the Father" Wonderful
Three years before, at the beginning q
our Lords ministry. Philip said "W
have found Him of whom Moses in tn
law and the prophets did write, Jesus G
Nazareth, the Son of Joseph" For thre
years he has followed Christ as the Messiah
the ambassador of the Father. He has con
fessed Him as the Christ, the Son of tn
living Cod Now we are told that whe
he asked TO see the Father, and was told
"He that hath seen Me hath seen tn
Father" nothing more was intended tha
he knew three years before. In those year
Philip had heard Him say, "NO ma
knoweth the Father but the Son, and IL
to whom the Son shall reveal Him"
Jesus had just said; IF ye had know
Me- ye should have known My Fathe
also and from henceforth ye know Hi
and have seen Him." Philip says: 'ShoY
us the Fathers and it suificeth u.s." Jesu
answered: " He that hath seen Me- hat
seen the Father" Jesus claimed Omnip
otenec 0mnipresence; Eternity; I'm
mutability; Omniscience. He forgave sins
claimed authority over the Sabbath owe
death over Judgment. He was obeye
by devils adOred by apostles worshipe
by angels Paul says " He had the form
Of God, and thought it not robbery to b
equal with God" If his own testimony
supported by that of Apostles and martyrs
devils and angels, be true, He is what II
says of Himself alpha and Omega, tn
! haeinniuq and the ending the Lord. VIII