New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1900-05-12

Ol IItu. lie CAME 10 seek ana IC
e save the lost. After his ascension tc
e the Father, this work of seeking
4 and saving the lost must still go on,
4 so he sends divine life to the church
! in the gift of the Spirit, that the
S work of regeneration might be still
] carried on in his name The church
9 therefore was an organization with
L life giving power To be organized
it must have officers divinely COM
missioned to do the work committed
| to it by the Master. 1t must there
fore be apostolic. Those whom
l Christ sends only have the right to
: send others There is such a thing
then as the apostolical succession
D The thought is human as well as
} divine. The analogy is complete
t in our best organized human insti-
+ tutions.
| Again, the church was to evange-
: lize all men. 1t was not intended
) by Christ to found an esoteric phil
osophy like the Essences, or spiri-
tual aristocracy like the Pharisees.
, The church therefore must be
catholic. AS we cannot conceive
; of the divine founder as establish
ing a rival church it must be the
: one only church. AS the tabernacle
: of the Holy Spirit it must be holy.
Our creedS are not irrational. The
one, holy, catholic and apostolic
church is essential to prepare the
lives of men for governing Gods
kingdom on earth.
Another question: Is the king
dom of God identical with the
church9 If am obliged to answer
in the negative, it is with no inten-
tion of disparaging the church. The
church truly stands in the world as
a divine illuminator. 1t is like
unto central sun which casts forth
it's radiance on our terrestrial night.
Some friendly planet catches the
light and reflects it where the church
is invisible.
What could we have received
from Socrates, or his disciples
Aristotles and Plato, which might
be worthy of imperishable fame,
had they not reflected the di-
vine' What from Seneca, Epic
tetus or Marcus Aurelius, those un-
conscious seekers after God, had
they not been bathed with a baptism
they little understood7 What shall
we say of Altruism or Positivism
but only good' August Comte,
feeding his mind and heart with the
Imitatio Christi, is impressed with
a divine picture which transforms
his very life. Counterfeits of the
real some will contend, but lights
which guided many a weary mariner
over troubled sea.
No, the lives of the good, the
true and the useful Of whatever
name or kindred, who hold out q
torch to tighten the ignorant and
extend a cup of cold water to the
faint-these all must be enrolled as
developers Of the kingdom of God.
Some day when we cease to see
through the glass darkly, when we
know even as we are also known,
then they shall acknowledge their
King.
If l do not identify the church
and the kingdom, it is not because
I do not regard the church's divine
organization as the best. We have
through our prayers and our sacra-
ments nearer approach to our
King; in entering the church's
portals we but follow his appointed
way Of doing good; but he who
casteth out q devil, though he ac-
company not with us, should not
be the subject Of our rebuke. When
the city of the kingdom is finally
completed, we who have done the
building shall feast with the king
in one blessed eucharist, and he
will be greatest who buildeth best.
III. The Law of the Kingdom.
Has the kingdom of God law for
it's government Believing it to be
natural as we'll as supernatural, it
must conform to the attributes Of |
nature where law is everywhere
visible. But it draws it's law from
it's supernatural source. The essence
of that law is love; its operation is
service. "Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is
like unto it; Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. On these two
commandments hang all the law
and the prophets" Love is the
life and service is the action of the
entire decalogue.
If we are to develope kingdom
like unto the vision of the Apo
calypso we must have our hearts
enfamed with love: our lives en-
gagged in service. Nor is this any
imaginary picture. The heart of
the world is cold for love: Our
weak ana distressed brethren are
sighing for service. We hear much
in our day Of the fatherhood of God
and the brotherhood Of man. Do
we always quite understand what
that meansi Can it be anything
more or less than a divine authority
for human servicei Pardon me if |
l advert to August Comte again.
His great motto was: "Live for
others - His substitution Of hu-
manity for God left out of his
system the only source Of power.
His "Thou shalt love thy neighbor
a. thyself" was a first command
ment, not a second to which there
was a first. l have preferred to re-
gard him as a servant Of the King
who recognized him not. / think
liberality will not be condemned