The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-12-02

Christianity today is devoid OF every
! religious, supernatural element. IL is
merely humanitarianism, civilization.
| Such men wish to be Christians in
| deed not in creed They forget that
| Christianity without dogma, the rev
| elation of Christ's divinity and HIS
holy church, is not Christ's religion is
not religion that will serve us. that
will lead us successfully to heaven, our
eternal home. If Jesus Christ was not
the Son of God, then He was an I'M
| poster all the more eXecrable than
other imposters because they were not
| possessed of the intelligence and the
virtues which men discovered in Him.
The denial of Christ's divinity makes
redemption through Him impossible
| for as a mere man He could neither
close the gates of hell nor open the
gates of Heaven, it makes Bethlehem
and its angels a poets dream, mere
myth; it makes Judas Iscariot a saint
and a patriot in his effort to save the
holy place from proclamation and the
nation from destruction; 1t makes
Jesus a felon and Calvary the scene
Of His just punishment, For He made
Himself the Son of God" For a mere
creature, a mere man, to make him
| self the Son of God, what is 1t but the
| greatest Of crimes, the sublimest inn
pudence, the grossest blasphemy?
! Lucifer said in his heart I will be like
the Most High, and ne was brought
down to hell and the depth of the pit
Thus the incarnation, that Christ Is
true God and true man, is the pivotal
point of Christianity. AS the Goldman,
Christ hSd a heavenly mission to per
form, a work to do This work and~~~=
characteristic ministry is like His two
folA nature, divine supernatural and
spiritual, and at the same time human,
visible and eternal. In one sense, view
ing its aim and object the work of
Christ was not confined to the Chris
tan era. 1t was in the world long be-
fore he came down from heaven.
man could save his soul before Moses
went out from Egypt; he could save his
soul under the law Of Sinai, and ne
can do no more substantially than SO
his soul under the law of Christ. Yet
the law of Christ is very different from
the other two. 1t Is intended to unite
mans spiritual nature to God in this
life in a way that no other dispensa-
ton could pretend to do.
THE grace Of forgiveness, Of justih-
cation and of regeneration, the grace
flowing from Calvary was always at
hand for men. 1t was waiting for our
first parents when they first stood desc
late and unhappy outside the gates of
Paradise By the grace of Christ, the
prophet spoke, the psalmist sang, the
priests and the king obeyed the Lord,
the Jew and the Gentle saved their
souls. No one at any period, in any gen
Grafton, who called upon the Lord with
sincere heart, turned away from his
evil deeds and was converted TO God,
but was cleaned and purified
mo, it was not in the existence ana
reality Of grace that the incarnation OF
the Son of God made a difference in
the world What the incarnation dtd
for those generations that came after
Bethlehem and Calvary was to make II
easier for men to approach to grace.
Christ's special ministry was His visi-
BILE and sensible dealing with men. His
accompanying His speech and His
touch with interior, supernatural grace
of forgiveness, strength and illumina-
ton, His most unmistakaDle organiza-
ton Of a society with a real head and
laws of unity. His most solemn eucha-
ristic institution. and those special
teachings which He commanded His
apostles to impart to the world.
THE visible presence Of GOd-made
man. His acts. His deeds and His in
stitutions attracted men, took captive
their thoughts and their fancy, and in
one word brought God nearer to their
hearts. to their faculties, and therefore
to their souls. Under the old law, Da-
vid in his penitence and his grief shut
himself up alone and lay upon the
ground Under the new, Mary Magd9-
len fell at her Savior's feet and an
nointed them with precious ointment
and wiped them with her hair. David
sought God and Gods grace within the
bare walls of his chamber; Mary found
a living man. heard the sound Of His
voice and felt the glance of His eye,
and, in finding a man, she found God
and the mercy Of God, and she was
type of all who were afterward to seek
God since God had come down upon
the earth.
Searching more particularly for the
nature of Christ's ministry. we see in
the gospels one who taught with au-
thOrity. who by solemn speech forgaVe
sins, who called men to join Him and
who gave them His flesh 10 eat under
the appearance Of bread and wine. n
a three-fold manner did Christ there
fore exercise His divine. supernatural
but also visible and eternal ministry:
First by teaching: second. by His blot
ting out sin and sanctifying men; third.
His ministry was that Of governing
His disciples and followers. BY this
three-fold ministry Of doctrine. Of
sanctification and of government did
Christ procure the glory OF God in the
highest and peace. salvation and recon-