Democratic messenger., 1904-12-03

so. that little child of yours is going
10 have wonderful history. When he
gets To he eighteen years of age he is
going TO the far east and will settle In
one of the Pacific islands. Then he is
going TO be elected ruler over that is
land and the people are going to obey
him as their ruler and their king Then
he is going TO marry and have chill
dren. and his children will have chill
dren His descendants are going to
reign in that island for hundreds of
years Then one of his descendants
hundreds of years from now is going
10 visit London, and willie there he is
going to have child born in the out
skirts of London. in the suburb of
Chelsea. Then that child is to stay In
England and grow up and become a
leader of tie people until at last the
king of England will become jealous of
him. and he will be hanged in the Tow
er of London
Fulallment of Prophecy.
Suppose | should ramble OH in a long
rigmarole like that in reference to your
baby. what would you say? Why.
you would look at me askance and
then say: You are crazy. No unin-
spired man can look into the future
and tell what is going to happen to
my descendants thousands of years
from now. A crank or fool might
happen for once to declare Alright, that
it will snow i'm Canada in July-as one
weather prophet did few years ago.
But to declare what is TO happen a
thousand years from now. that is be-
yond all range of human possibilities" !"
Yet the astounding statement that
made few moments ago in reference
to little child is not nearly as wOn-
derful and seemingly absurd from a
human standpoint as those Messianic
prophecies which were made not by
one. but by many writers of the Old
Testament in reference to the birth,
the life. the death and the resurrec-
tion of Jesus Christ. When the wise
men came to Jerusalem to find the new
born King. who was yet to be King
of kings and Lord of lords" what an
swer was given to the oriental stran-
gers by those learned in the Hebrew
law? They promptly answered. IN
Bethlehem" and gave for their author
ity the words of the prophet Micah.
Christ was born. Yet. when the wise
men went to Bethlehem. they found
there the infant Christ as Micah had
foretold. Is not this fulfilled prophecy
a startling evidence that Jesus was
born Il man. yet that he was the Be-
seen by the prophets:
If as Il rational man want to find
the proof that Christ is some day going
to return to earth to claim his disciples
as his own all that l have got to do is
to turn to the prophecies of Isaiah and
read first the account of Christ's birth
and early life He was oppressed he
was afflicted. yet he opened not his
mouth. lie is brought as lamb to
the slaughter and as sheep before
her shearers is dumb. so he Openeth
not his mouth" Did not the prophecy
of Isaiah. written 500 years before
Christ died. come true? Then will not
also Isaiah's prophecy come true
which declares that there shall come
forth rod out of the stem OF Jesse"
who shall make the "liOn eat straw
like an OK and the sucking child play
on the hole of the asp?" For then
1.-The glory of the Lord shall cover the
earth. even as the waters cover the
seas" oh. my brother. il you believe
that Christ's birth was a divine fact.
then by the evidence of things not
seen you should also believe that
But the divinity of Jesus Christ II
found i'm the testimony of Chrst's con-
temporaries as well as in the prophe-
cies Of those inspired men who lived
hundreds Of years before Christ was
born. 1t is not only found in the gos-
pei biographers of Jesus. who knew
Christ personally. but also in the tes-
timony of such mighty personalities as
that of Paul. who was martyred in
Rome about 81 4. D.. and Ignatius.
who was martyred In 100 A. d.. and
Polycarp. who lived 20 be nearly nine
ty years old and was martyred in 1856
A. ID. These men did not live hun
dreds of years after Christ was born.
BY direct touch with events they were
able to prove with their own eyes and
ears If Christ was fraud or whether
Jesus truly placed the stamp Of his
divinity upon his lies work by the
miracles he wrought
Testimony of the Martyrs.
Explain away the prophecies? Oh,
that is impossible, And yet 1t would
be no less difficult to explain away the
testimonies Of the contemporaries Of
Jesus Christ. who declare that Christ
was divine. Why? Because. as ! rea'
those testimonies. | find. with but one
exception or possibly two. they were
all sealed with the lifeblood of mar
tyrdom. Here is the honor roll: Mat
thew was slain with sword in Ethi-
opia: Mark was dragged through the
streets of Alexandria until his brains
were dashed out and the matted hc ir
stuck to the walls and the rocks;
Luke's mode Of death Is not known
positively. but tradition says he was