The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-07-04

THE REV. ". b. VAN VALKENBURGH
Who discussed the work of the gospel
ministry at the Shrewsbury Park NJ. L.
Church.
seech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
stead. sbe We reconciled to God q Cor.
V. 90 In part. he said:
To the ministry: Now, then. we are
ambassadors tprebytcrs, eiders). for
Christ. In this age of wars and rumors
of wars, we need ambassadors. We know
of their work; we admire our Consul Cen
eral. ~fitZhugh Lee: the men who stand
for us-percnance thu duty may be pleas
ant. Then We. have a Thomas +. Baird.
The fact that these men represent us
our interests III war or peace-i4.COO,oW of
us-lends dignity. prestige and influence to
his station. as well as to the work that
ne is to accomplish. He stands at a court
"a foreign court-to represent the inter-
ests OF another-the one sent. Standing at
one court 10 intercede for or represent the
interests that are youfS and mine. The
sender-God: the sont-Christ.
Christ. the great head of the church.
the captain of our salvation. Is the am
bassador. the viceroy. the plenipotentiary
from God the Father to his rehellious
children. He comes commissioned; he has
been sent OF God the Father; his work Is
peculiarly a mediatoIial one: he is to rep
resent his Fathers interests here upon
earth. Those to whom lie comes are more
properly a court of hearing; the sinner
has become the object Of his ntercessions.
L IN " Ia hl' INT u ~
here set forth by the thought that there
might very properly be three divine dis
pensations in time, each having reference
10 the ruling providence and distinct per
soral oversight of one of the personalities
of the divinity.
The Ar!ans, a sect coming prominently
Ito notice early in the Fourth century
denied the coeauality of the persons of the
Thrifty. Still. ATius. the founder of the
sect. Endorsed a creed prepare by Fuse
bus of Caesarea. in which the three dis
rrnnt nar-nn lftaG p cot r
However We have no controversy here.
We all to-day admit the coequal person
alities of the Trtune God. We, then. have,
first. the dispeIsation of Cod the Father,
in which the Creator rules and reigns-a
God of aw-the law. the apostle Paul
tells us. a d~idaskolns. a schoolmaster. to
bring lis to Christ. Here. then, we read
en- The eternal edicts that the soul that
sinneth. 1t shall die This period of law
must necessarily continue until a new
covenant is made with man. This is &C
| Complished in the next dispensation. the
mediatorial one, in which God the Son
lived and labored for mans salvation. 1t
was human and necessarily short, It is
necessary that | so back to the Father
said nc. in order that the comforter may
come unto you OF this period of Gods
~redemptive scheme of salvation. we can
truly say the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us On the day of Pentecost
we believe there was uslered in the THU d
and last period. or divine dispelsation. ana
tina was the one of the Holy Spirit. or the
'ti' VI 'SN NiN p-1 - 49,
the word: the word preached IS quick ana
powerful and sharper than a two-edged
sword. piercing even to the divLdlhS OF
the Joints and marrow. and ts q dlscsrner
Of the thoughts and iBtents of the heart.
Man stands as never before. lace TO
face with his Creator. Eternal 1estinles
hang in the balance and man becomes the
arbiter of his own fortune: he makes the
choice of his own. eternal veal or woe.
Here. then, we. the ministry-divineiy
| called of God-become the representatives
of the Christ: he, the 9mhassador. has
made terms of peace possible: We are 10
bring the sinner back to God. We stand
in Christ's stead-how divine the 'calling-
How grand the work to thus represent his
interests here upon earth; then truly 1t Is
| that we heseech men in Christs stead,
Then truly we stand as though God did
heseech by us and become mouthpieces
for God. How sublime the thought. how
divine the spectacle when God stands
clothed in human flesh and thus beseeches
men to be saved.
THE sender-God. The s~ent-Christ. The
substitute or proXy-you and l.. The work
reconciliation.
tranged made at peace. one with the
other. God has been estraneed from man
man has m~isinterpreted God-hoW can
God and man be reunited on amfcable
terms? Did / say that the law was a
schoolmaster-the old Greek didaskolus
led the children to the teacher-so Christ
is our great teacher and the law leads us
to him. This second dispsnsation-the one
of flesh. the one of the Sor-was short as
| to time. yet wrapped up with mighty con-
sequences as 20 results. And now. stand
ing on the threshold of . new dispersal
ton. what MON entous ira gedies are TO be
ence and life. Man is to comprehend new
trutks-to feel. to see, to know as never
l before. The ~divfnely ordained. commits
stoned one-sent Of the King-comes with