The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-15
YESTERDAYS IMPRESSIVE SERVICES
They Began at g O'Clock in the Morning and Were Continued
With Hardly a 1ntermission Until After 10
O'Clock at Night.

- ~ Aea ~ soy Il 'aA
was willing to sacrifice everything for
Christ. The text is peculiar, Ii is so
all-inclusive. Nothing of value was
left out-the things Paul most dearly
priced. everything. he laid on the altar
of God.
Pau was a thinker IL ever a man was.
Every action of his was preceded by
a deliberate purpose. He never acted
from impulse or emotion, he acted after
thought n investigation and he had
purpose in his action. The text re-
fers to two facts that constituted the
basis of the apostles purpose and ac-
ton. The first fact is the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. Paul accepted this fact.
The Lord Jesus Christ is a fac in the
apostles creed, that earliest formation
of the Christian faith. The bishop
spoke inspiringly of this creed as a
platform upon which all the %evangeli-
cal churches of the world are united,
and upon which they are marching
forth together to complete the Christ
ianizing of the world. The apostles
creed asserts that Jesus Christ is the
My begotten son of God. 1t is an as
sertion of his divinity and his place in
the Godhead. He was conceived of
| the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin
Mary" an assertion that the origin of
his human nature was supernatural.
There is a division at this point, there
are those who doubt his supernatural
origin. The foundation on which we
base our faith in this fact is the gos-
pels. You shall search in vain for four
volumes of history whose claims for
genuineness and authenticity surpass
the claims of these four gospels. No
Greek or Roman classic has as good a
claim for genuineness and authenticity
as they. For almost 1000 years they
W been the subject of study and
criticism of supreme intensity and ma
lionifNv with tho Tran 90 1aCtr4,fa-
their validity. Yet for all those attacks
these gospels stand to-day unim-
peached and unimpeachable.
The bishop recited in graphic lam
guage the story of the birth of Jesus
in Bethlehem, and of the shepherds
who heard the angels singing GLORY
to God in the highest. and on earth
peace. good will towards man." Why
didn't something wonderful occur dur-
ing the childhood of Christ? The most
wonderful thing in connection with the
youth of Christ is the fact that moth
ing wonderful in II did occur. The
bishop briefly followed the ministry of
Christ and sketched his crucihxion and
told how, when the shadows gathered
around the cross. and nature was con-
vulsed. the Roman centurion declared.
Surely this was the Son of God" The
bishop had no doubt of the s%upernat-
ural origin of Christ's human nature
Us AS That hullAd
along. Christ lived and died in historic
times. We know who the governors
and rulers of the world were at the
period in which He lived. We know
the history of Pontius PLATE from first
to last. The bishop scorned the at
tempt to relegate Christ to the land
of myth n legend. Christ was just as
real as Abraham Lincoln. or Napoleon
Bonaparte. or julius Caesar, or Alexan-
der the Great. He was Just as really
and truly an historic character. He
towers up as the supreme character of
all human history, and 1t is and will
be impossible to impeach the evidence
upon which this fact rests.
He was dead and buried. There was
no doubt about that. On the third day
he arose from the dead. The bishop
believed this literally. 1t was his cor
poral human body hat arose from
the dead. not an evanescent spirit that
escaped from the body. The bishop re-
lated the story of Mary's visit to the
tomb n of Christ's talking with
her; of his several appearances to
the disciples; of His asking Thomas
to examine his rounds. II am
so thankful" said the bishop. "that
who find II hard 20 believe" He was
thankful that this incident of Thomas
and his oubts and the manner In
which they were swept away, had been
recorded. He laid it down as an abb
solute proposition hat while you may
be deceived by n sense, or by two
senses, you are never deceived when
three senses give their joint testimony.
Thomas satisfied his senses of sight.
touch and hearing. The g%enuineness
n reality of the resurrection of
Christ's body were positive. The bishop
grandly described Christ's ascension.
The second of the two facts that
nnnGftfnfnd tho harfz ~ D.T
citation of all things to serve Christ. is
TO be found in Christianity itself.
Christianity must be studied in detail.
First OF all, 1t is a system of divine
philosophy, who's object is the saliva
ton of humanity. 1t is a system of
divine philosophy that answers the
questions why, what. when, how: those
monosyllables hat battle and stagrer
the human reason unassisted by Gods
truth. Philosophy achieved its high
est development at or very near the
birth of Christ. Nc philosopher of this
century, or of the last, or of the one
preceding that, reached the heights at
tanned by the philosophers who were
born more than 1900 years ago. Mar
u Aurelius and Socrates and Plato
and Aristotle are the giant minds Of
philosophy, and modern philosophers
need a step-ladder to reach their sam
dals. You needn't be worried wien
any IhoueTH tells you ne mas fOund u
way to answer those mOnosyllabies su-
perior to and independent OF thu way
they are answered in the word of God.
In time of STRIFE and contention and
struggle n battle 1lI trouble and
grief, &c to this blessed volume and
you will find strength and hope and
assurance. Let not your neart lie trout
bled. God help us % love his
whole Bible more than We have ever
1t in the past"
Christianity is the supreme force for
the uplifting Of humanity. Christian
lily Is the supreme regenerative force.
God has put IL in the world to tear
down and build up. Christianity is a
destructive as well as a constructive
force. II destroys idolat-y and eman-
humanity. The bishop describ-
Paul's visit 10 EDhesus and the
magnificent temple Of Diana, n told