St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-10-15
THE PERPETUAL PRESENCE.
The World May Never Come to an
End.

Rev. Marion d. Shutter preached in
the Grand opera house to the congre-
CATION of The Church of the Redeemer
from the text: ''Lo, l am With You
Always"
The phase END of the world" ac-
cording to the revision, means the
rounding up of period of time. the
completion OF an epoch. There is no
evidence to show that the material uni
verse is ever to be destroyed. The
globe may continue to roll on forever,
and be the abode of incompatible gem
erations. When Jesus says: "Lo, /
am with You always" he can not mean
that hewas to be with his disciples in
person in any sense. If Christ was
finite and not Infinite, he was limited to
space, both in this world and that which
ne entered at death. 1t is impossible
that he should have SO multiplied him
self as to have been literally with all
his deciples, scattered as they were over
the face of the earth. This would have
hecessitated as many Christs as dis
ciples. There is nObler sense in
which Jesus was their ever
present help sense nobler,
because more natural. 1t fits in with
the laws of our nature and of society.
Christ did not transcend, but fulfilled
and illustrated the principles of our
common humanity. What he did mean
was that the spirit He had breathed into
HIS disciples, the precepts He had
taught them, the life He had led before
them, the strength He had given them
would always abide. Thus the Influence
OF Jesus becomes one with the influence
OF all great souls upon those who look
up to them as leaders.
Ever their phantoms rise before us,
Our loftier brothers, but one in blood;
AT bed and table they lord it over US.
With looks of beauty and words of good"
The promise of the text means more
TO rs than it did TO the original twelve.
Christianity is greater thing than any
of its founders dreamed. How small
was their world compared with ours!
How narrow their horizon! The promise
that conveyed to them an idea of help
lesSness that should last only through
the Jewish period and assist them to es-
tablish the new faith upon the ruins of
the old, has gathered meaning and force
transcending their early expectations,
and proved a blessing to ages and peO-
pie they could not foresee. The re-
fragmentary, have still power to move
ohh " ouV Nv
hind these words was great
heart. The words, after all. were
but spray cast up by the mighty
ocean of love that heaved forever in His
breast. He is with us to-day by virtue
of those inspiring qualities that were in
Him. What we owe to Jesus is inspira-
ton. The worlds alteration is paid
Him, largely because offictitious at
tributes and mythical offices. The really
divine qualities that were in Him have
been buried under titles of honor He
would have rejected when on earth.
The real empire of Jesus is that of the
heart, and not of the scepter. In times
of doubt and struggle. in days of ad-
versity and aff1icti0n, in moments of
triumph, or on the brink of the open
grave, the spirit of Him who lived and
suffered and died as we do, but who SO
lived that He obtained victory, glorious
and complete, over the forces that dis
turb us, is with us and will be to the
end!