The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-26
Dr.. O. S. Munsell of Kansas breaches
a Powerful Sermon.
WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST
POWER OF THOUGHT AS A FACT
OR IN HUMAN LIFE.
What Was Christ's Conception of His
Own Mission-"For This Cause
Came I Into the World, That I
Might Bear Witness to the
Truth"

DR.. o. S. Munsell of Kansas, formerly
of the Western university, filed the
pulpit at the First NJ. E. church last
evening and preached a forceful SER
mon to a large congregation His text
was. What think We of Christi"
! In opening, DR.. Munsell spoke of the
power of thought as factor in human
| life. The Bible says, las a man think
eth in his heart, so is he He there
fore thought it fitting TO PROFOUND the
question to his hearers, What think
| We of Christi?
At the outset he raised the question:
| What was Christ'S thought of himself
as left on record in the gospels? He
then spoke, substantially, as follows:
We must not take secondary evidence
| where primary is at hand. ChflSl' as
to his own personality, everywhere and
always asserts an ever present sense
of his own conscious identity with
God, as II and my father are one ETC.
| As to his conception of his own mis-
sion,- his language is equally explicit:
For this cause came l into the world,
} that / might bear witness TO the
truth" Do you ask, then, my friends,
what is this truth to which he came
I
YOU: II am the way, the truth and the
life" Here we have an ascending eli
max He came to open a way, to teach
the truth. to impart life For in him
was life, and the life was the light of
men. God himself is light. In the be-
ginning God said: Let there be light"
and there was light.
THE WORD.
Rut. we are told lin the be-
ginning was the word, and the
word was with God, and the
word was Cod The same was in the
But, we are told, lin the the
| being yet not the same being). All
things were made by him, and without
him was not anything made that was
made Again we read, And the word
was made flesh and dwelt among men,
and we beheld his glory-the glory OF
the only begotten of the father, full of
grace and truth.
Christ's reply to the inquiry of John
the Baptist was: Art thou he that
should come coroborates this concep-
ton of his mission. Co. he SAID 10
Johns messenger, "and tell John what
We do hear and see: The blind see, the
deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, the dead are raised up,
and to crown the column of this grand
| climax. he adds: The poor have the
gospel preached unto them"
But what was this gospel? Isaiah de-
clared it in the words of our O. I. les
son: For unto US a child is born etc.
The angel preached it to the shepherds
Oh the plains of Bethlehem, when he
said: Fear not, forB behold! l bring
you good tidings of great joy. which
shall be unto all people; for unto you is
born this day, in the city of David,
savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Christ himself emphasizes it not only
in passages already quoted, but in the
prophecy: And if Il mot my gospel,
not my church,, be lifted up | will
draw all men unto me-" The apostles
everywhere proclaimed it in the spirit,
if not in the words of Paul, the great
apostle, to the gentiles: | Cor. ii, 2:
For 1 determined not to know any
thing among you save Jesus Christ,
and him crucified."
CHRIST'S MISSION.
Christ's conception of his own mis-
sion is shown decisively by what he
did, i. e.. by the means he used to &C
complish it. % He went everywhere
preaching his own gospel; attesting his
authority by miracles, as said to johns
disciples. (2) In the outset he sent out
his disciples, two and two, into Judea
and Galilee, to preach his gospel. AT.
ter his resurrection he commissioned
his apostles (simply his. chosen mes
sengers) to go and disciple all nations.
Note force of term apostle, in original
language and use. (3) He suffered
death on the cross, not as is usually
said and preached to reconcile God to
man-but to reconcile man to God
and testifies, Cor. V, 1919: "All things
are of God, who hath reconciled us to
himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry reconciliation"
viz. that God was in Christ reconcil-
ing the world unto himself. God needs
no reconciler, but man does and did.
(4D We know that Christ himself or
ganized no church, but he commanded
baptism and authorized the Lords
supper, both emblematic recognitions
of the disciples allegiance to him. He
established no hierarchy, ordained no
deacon, no elder, presbytery or priest,
no bishop, no archbishop, no patriarch,
no pope, and personally, prior to his
ascension at least, authorized no such
orders, officers or ordinations.
The burden of proof here rests not
with your speaker for the gospels are
wholly silent as to such ordinations
and offices, but with those conteStlng
this statement.
He published no articles of religion
or confessions of faith as tests of
church membership On the contrary,
John XII, 1925, says: Il am the resur-
rection and the life; he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live, and whatsoever iveth and be-
lieveth in me shall never die" There
is here no reservation or concealed con-
dition, the language is universal, I'M
limited and authoritative. 1t is the
final word of mans salvation.
Finally: Either Christ did personally
preach complete gospel, and establish
an adequate church on earth or he did
not We dare not assert that he did
not do both Dare you do so? We do
not say or believe that revelation
ceased with the ascension of Christ
But we firmly believe that no subse-
quent revelation either did or could
change the essential conditions of hui
man salvation. Ordinances, ordinations
forms of church government may
rightfully be changed, but the essential
conditions of salvation as declared by
Christ to Martha, as already quoted,
are as Interchangeable as the nature and
love of Christ.
WHAT THINK. YE OF CHRIST?
What then, my hearers, think We of
this Christ? The Jewish high priest
and the rulers of the people condemned
him to die as a blasphemer. The great
empire of Rome outlaWed him and his
followers or disciples, as enemies to
the human race. Yet in 500 years one
of the greatest of Roman emperors led
his victorious armies in triumph from
then far-off Britain, the ultima thule of
the west, to the very borders of the
Indies under the banner of the cross
with the motto, In Hoe Signo Vinces."
And today Christianity rules the world,
in nyoaf Of tba fulfiIlmapt of CnriSt'c