The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1910-01-05

CHRIST. the deau. as members I'D ulS
Body. and whom God has promised.
that as they share with Christ In his
sacrifcial death. they shall also share
with him In his glorious resurrection
to honor and Immortality philippians
II, SID.
The Scriptures make very plain the
fact that while Jesus was born of
woman. this was not the beginning of
his existence, for "He WAS with the
Father before the world was" He
was the very beginning Of the Crea-
ton OF God" (ievelation Ill. al. As
ST. John declares. In the beginning
was the Word tLogosi and the Logos
was with The God aud the Eogos WAS
God. By him were all things
made that were made and without him
was not one thing made" He was
made flesh and dwelt amongst us"
he came unto his own and his own
received him not. but TO as many as
received him. to them gave he privi-
lege to become sous of God" tJohn L
LID.
The Scriptures make clear to us that
the Father did not compel the Son to
be our Redeemer-on the contrary. be
invited him to do so. and set before
him the great reward:
GD The privilege of proving his 10y
atty to the Father Hebrews I. :;
Psalm xl. 81.
e, The privilege OF serving the fail.
en- race. as their Redeemer and Re-
storer Matthew X. 2S,.
f3l The honor of high exaltation to
even greater dlgnIties than he had be-
fore he left the Father-to honor. glory
and Immortality. far above angels and
principalitles and powers aud every
name that Is named. st. Paul. In re-
ferring to the matter. tells US that our
Lord. for the joy that was set before
him. endured the cross. desplsiug the
shame"-and now. In consequence. Is
set down on the right hand OF the
Father on high hebrews xii. p.
While the Savior was the Christ.
word. yet the gift wis more from
another tnndpolnt-although II was nh
contained In that primary gift. Our
Lord first, by obedience to the Divine
Law, demonstrated his right To eternal
life: and. ut the sane time. by his con-
secratIou to death. he laid dorH the
life he was privileged to have Nor
did he ever take il back. He arose
from the dend on the third day. FER.
fected as New Greature-aS II spirit.
being I'll Corinthians Ill. IL. He did
indeed appear to the apostles during
the subsequent forty days. but not as
before. Although, after his resIrrec-
| t!on. he appeared In the flesh. he WAS
not flesh He had taken the body Of
flesh for the suffering Of death" and
not to keep externally. When he hai I'm
ished sacrificing It, the flesh had served
his purpose. His high exaltation IL on
the spirit plane. far above angels. His
appearances during the forty days
were very brief and few. after the
manner In which angels had previously
appeared In the flesh. They were
for the purpose OF convincing the dis.
ciples that he was no longer dead. and
to convince them also that he was no
longer limited to earthly powers. as
before his death. He was put to
death In the flesh. but Quickened In
spirit Il Peter Ill. 49,.
"Ths Body Of Christ
Notice how Gods gift expands. ear.
rying blessings with each change. The
glorified Jesus, when he assembled up
on high, had to his credit. 80 to speak,
the human. earthly rights which he
had sacrificed. Those rights were
sufficient for the whole world. BE-
cause all had been condemned through
one man, all could be Justified. ntoned
for. by the sacrifice OF one perfect man
--"the man Christ Jesus. who gave
himself a ransom for all'' q Timothy
II. 5. o..
But the assembled Savior, although
be came into the world to be the Sa.
vior OF the World. did not apply the
merit of his sacrifice for the world
but. as the Scriptures show. he ap-
Piled II for his Church and the rntire
household of faith UnbelicverS are
not covered by that application OF
Christs merit. In order to get undei
the merit Of Christ moo they must BE-
lieve. renounce sin and make conse-
Grafton Of themselves to walk in the
Redeemers footsteps as living sacri-
fees. Under this provision the Gospel
call has been going forth for now
eighteen centuries. The object Of this,
the Scriptures tell us. IL to select pri.
marily the Church Of Christ. a little
flock" .the Bride. the Lambs WIFE
and joint-heir with him In his Millen.
NAL Kingdom. which Is to bless the
world.
Throughout this Gospel Age a faith
ful little Hock" has gradually been
gathered. Their test IL their willing,
ness to lay down their lives IN the
Lords scrvice-in the service Of the
Truth and In the service Of the breth
rem In doing this they are sacrificing
with Jesus: rs the Apostle suggests, II
beseech you. therefore. brethren. 10y
the mercies Of God. that We present
your bodies living sacrifice. holy and
acceptable unto God. which IL your
reasonable service" (ltomans xii. l.,
This sacrifice Of Christ's "members'' II
counted In rs part and parcel Of the
sacrifice Of Christ. When this sacritic.
ing shall be finished 1t will mean thu,
the merit Of Christ's sacrifice nj Cal
vary appropriated to the Church will
have been laid down again. returned
to the credit Of the Redeemer Then
at the conclusion Of this Age. when the
last "member Of the Rody" has sui
fered with him and been glorihsxi. the
great High Priest will apply the blond
afresh-not again for his members and
the household Of faith. however. but
for the world. rs the type clearly
shows.
"rhe Riches Of His Grace
Glance backward now. aud see thl
unfoldings Of the Divine Plan: The
Babe Of Bethlehem: the Man Of Sor
rows: the Risen Lord: the Ascended
High Priest aud Advocate: the appro
priation OF his merit to the Church
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