Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-03-12

was with God. and the word was
Cod" from the first verse OF Genesis
Nor can you separate the idyl of Ruth
from the birth of Jesus or perceive the
meaning of Isaiah without connecting
It with the story of the crucifixion.
The Bible declares that when Philip
the evangelist climbed into the chariot
of Queen Candace's secretary of the
treasury he opened his mouth and be-
gan at the same Scripture and preach
ed unto him Jesus" Thus we find
that. no matter how far one book Of
the Bible may antedate another they
all revolve about the personality of
Jesus Christ.
If YOU were to separate the books Of
the Bible from the personality of Je-
sus they would be as meaningless as
one of the novels Of Willxie Collins
separated from its central hero or hero
inc or rs we sometimes say, "the play
of Hamlet with the part of Hamlet
left out" As Or. Sapbir says "If the
Bible were like n collection of stones
we might select some and put aside
others as less valuable and beautiful,
and, although in such selections we
might make great mistakes. we should
still he in possession of something more
or less complete. but the Bible is like
plant, and all its parts are not me
chanically or accidentally connected.
but organicaly united. and hence a law
Of life rules here He who reveres life
will neither add nor take away from
tho beautiful plant which the Father
hath planted in and through Christ by
the Spirit Nobody asserts that Il man
would Ike killed if you cut off his hair
and his nails but there is vital union
of all his members. If you cut Off my
little finger shall survive it. but it is
nv little finger you cut off, and 1t is Il
loss. Il Disagreement SO with the
Bible 1t is not like piece of cloth
mated hv one spirit" That ia true.
Thus. as all the different parts of the
physical body find their lite action in
the throbhing heart. all the different
parts of the Bible find their potency
and their life giving force IN the per
SOraity Of Jesus Christ. lie is the
great hero of this book. He is the cen
ter. the circumference. the all in all OF
'hc Scriptures. Whenever n man reads
any chapter of the Bible without find
ing Jesus there he has failed to find
out the chief purpose for which that
chapter was written.
The Origin Of Jesus.
Now, who is this Bible hero? Where
was he born? How was he born?
Who were his ancestors? These are
the questions which every author of a
biography or of a novel which is only
Il fictitious biography answers. There
the author introduces you to his hero
or heroine. He finds the cradle of his
hero in the Indian wigwam of Pow
hatan. as does the biographer of poca-
hontas, or he surrounds you with the
rivalrics and plots of Queen Anne's
time, as does William Makepeace
Thackeray when ne introduces to you
Henry Esmond. or he tells you how
King James VI. Of Scotland became
King James l. OF England because he
was the direct descendant of Margaret
Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. of Eng
land. All books of biography natural
~ give to us the genealogical history
of their heroes or heroines. They tell
how they were born and what blood Is
flowing in their veins. So does the
Bible in reference to Jesus Christ.
His nativity had divine origin. His
conception was miraculous. lie was
and is omnipotent in power. All the
prophecies foretold it. All history
\. y. has proved it.
Oh. that you and | might find a di-
vine and ali omnipotent Christ in every
part of that old Bible May we do as
did John Randolph, the great Virginia
orator. One day he was entertaining
a family friend at dinner and he said
to him: Il was raised by pious moth
er-God bless her memory WHO taught
me the Christian religion In all its re-
quirements. But alas, ! grew up an
iLhdcl-if not an intidel completely, yet
decided skepuc. But when ! be-
came a man in this as well as in polit-
ical and other matters | resolved to
examine for myself and never pin my
faith to any other mans sleeve. So |
bought Bible. l pored over 1t and
examined it carefully l sought and
procured books for and against it, and
when my labors were ended came to
this irresistible conclusion: The Bible
is true 1t would have been as easy
for m ignorant rustic to have written
Sir Isaac Newtou's Principal as for
uninspired men to have written the
Bible" So may we study the Bible in
reference to the divinity of Jesus
Christ. May we read all the Messiah
ic prophecies. May we read all Christs
miracts. May We stand at the cradle
and at the riven tomb of Christ. And
In every chapter of every book may
we see a divine and omnpotent Christ
as the chief hero of this book May
we find Christ the center, the circum-
ference, the all in all of the Holy Scrip
lures. Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same Scripture and
preached unto him Jesus"
Why Christ Came.
Having asserted the divinity and ON
nlpotent power of Christ, what next
does the Bible do; 1t tells us the chief
motives which actuated that divine
life, As the biographer of Simon Boil
var slowly and irresistibly leads you
along in the study of his hero until at
last YOU find the great Venezuelan lib
orator lalifotiu his Iifa IN tho frop-