Evening journal., 1907-03-04
CHRIST AS THE
GREATEST PERSON
econtInuea Fs0m EIrsl Pare.y

at twelve years Of age. asking and
answering questions. He was a pas
sionate lover Of the House OF God. He
regularly attended the feasts lie eat
the Passover with His disciples. He
preached IN the courts OF the Temple
He sat by the treasury and noted tho
rich who gave much and commended
the poor widow who cast In an her
Twins He sent Peter TO fetch "a fish
out Of tho mouth OF which TO pay the
Temple tax The church OF His day
was Gull OF impurity and impcrfcctou.
n the Talmud Is evidence the priests
preached trivalites. but Christ
heard them. worshipped with them.
was loyal and devout. What an eN-
ample. II there Is lack OF oratory or
magnetism in the preacher to-day how
often Is made am excuse to stay at
home. Christ went to church to wor-
ship. 70 hear the word Of His Father
and TO honor those. though unworthy.
/ who sat in Moses seat
"Bunyan called the church OF his day
with an its imperfcc:ions. the Palace
Beautiful There he met Him who said.
| i'm an places where I record my name
/ I viii come unto thee and bless thee.
When Christ the Deity. the Pure. the
Holy the Perfect entered upon His
public ministry He submitted TO Bapt-
ism at the hands OF John, to fulhill all
righteousness. He cieansed the Tenn
pie OF a den OF thieves. Out OF the
materials Of the old church. ready to
vanish. He built the new, saying to
Peter on this rock ] Quilt my church.
IT shall never perish. He Is the chief
corner stone. His disciples are the
lpillars and ground OF the truth. If
the poet puts Christ In his art. the
preacher proclaims Christ I'm the
church as founder and builder Of
earth's greatest institution. We have
the poetic Christ OF Dore. the labor
ing Christ Of Holman Hunt, The tragic
Christ of Nereschagin, and the Christ
who IS all and IN all by the evangelists
Christ IS in history literature, art
law. custom. yea Christ IS in the
church. as Its head its life 10 create
a new society. new world. Sin
Thomas Moore published to the world
his Utopia. The church is Christs
Z utopia, not perfect now, but to be
Christ loved the church and gave Him
self for II, that He might sanctify and
cleanse it, with the washing Of water
by the word. that He might present 81
to Himself a glorious church. not have
ing spot or wrinkle. or any such thing
but that It should be holy and with
out blemish. This is the IDEAL Chris
In the church TO make 1t real. Christ
is the one and only perfect character
now. but he is perfectlng the saints
He is calling sinners. He is pardon.
ing penitents. He is showing tbs
church the value Of the common soul
the soul Of child. OF a woman. OF q
plebean, a patrician, even the creates
crimes OF the evil doer cannot hide
from His eyes the soul diamond. a
traveller IN South Africa saw a boz
amusing himself throwing stones. on
fell at the travellers feet. He picks'
It up. Something flashed in il. It wa
: a diamond The child was playing wit
lii as a common stone. The maj
/ recognized its value. This commercial
2 world calls men hands Sometime
< 1t does not even recognize their namei
Y but counts them. and gives each
L number Christ sees IN every son an
q daughter Of the race a soul, damon
Of priceless value. His life was give
4 to redeem IT, His plan includes II
h His purpose is to save and polish II
{ To attempt to add to what Christ wi
do for soul is
a ITO glld refined gold to paint the lily
= To throw a perfume Oh the violet
q Christianity Is better than Buddhism
G because It seeks to save the whole ma
e and the whole race. Other cults pa
= the golden age in the past, Chris
n places Il in the future. The taber
nacle of God is with men, and He wi
dwell with them and they shall be Hi
people. and God Himself shall be wit
: them and be their God. And Go
{ shall wipe away all tears from thei
L eyes. and there shall be no more deaf
= neither sorrow nor crying. neithe
d shall there be anv more pain for III
g former things are passed away