Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-21

conceived In her is of the Holy Ghost"
and Except a man be born of the
Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of
Cod the spiritual birth of Christ and
Of the disciple alike being the direct crea
ton of the Holy Spirit Again: ''And
Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost"
and ''be We filled with the Spirit" But
not only spiritual birth and vigor have In
the experience of both Christ and the
disciple their origin in the Holy Spirit.
but further. there is n similar process of
crucifXion and resurrection for each: Il
I'm crucified with Christ: nevertheless,
live: vet, not I; but Christ liveth in me;
and the life 7 now live, / live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me-; and eff We
then be risen with Christ, set your af-
lection on things above" Moreover. the
resurrection and after REORGANIZATION
are identical with the believer and Christ.
! when Christ, who Is our life. shall APP
pear then shall We also appear with Him
in glory. John promises much based on
our present Christian experience: BE
loved, now are we the sons of God and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be,
but we know that when He shall appear,
we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He Is. And every man that hath
this hope in him, puriieth himself. even
as He also is pure Whatever there may
be of mystery in these collated passages,
their purport is clear enough, the Chris
tan experience partakes of Christ'S ex-
perience, and. further, that experience is
predcated on seeking to know and to do
the will of God: 'Whosoever will osome
after men, let him take up his cross and
daily follow me, or he cannot be my dis
cple." DiscipleShip. therefore. is not
imitation of Christ, but union with Christ;
hence il promies and guarantees likeness
to Christ. and that likeness is the goal of
Christian hope.
II. THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH AS
STRENGTH OF DISCIPLESHIP.
All the parallels of Jesus were uttered
4 1a1
ment of Christian experience of His, i'm
mediate disciples; they also fulfil the
same function in the experience of Chris
tians of all time. The realiZatio of their
truth, their helpfulness. their power is
as much a matter of experience now as
when they were heard instead of being
read. Obedience to present light unfoldS
| their real meaning. beauty and value.
These parallels. as studied in the light
| OF the disciples own experience, recall
some of the stages through which he has
passed and prophesy others through
which he is still to develop his disciple
ship. Take the lost" parables-those of
the lost coin. the lost sheep and the lost
son. How simply yet how wildly they
bring home to the heart mans worth to
God and to the world The lost COIN
every man has value, most simply
expressed in terms OF commercial worth;
the lost sheep-man Is life, and all life
has value; the lost son-man is more
than value and animal life: he is child
of God. and the recovery of mans lost
value. lost through wandering from God,
found by his return to God, is the occa-
sion OF great Joy to himself and to
heaven. There is a sharp and great diff
ference between worthlessness and un-
worthiness No man is utterly worthless
all men are measurably unworthy of the
infinite love of God. But because he is
valuable. yet unworthy, he is redeemed
not with such corruptible things as silver
and gold but with the precious
blood of Christ" The discovery" para
bles are also of great value as rejecting
phases of experiencstthe discovery of
self sof God and of the kingdom OF
heaven.
This discovery may be likened to the
man who found the hidden treasure-the
surprise of grace: or 1t may be likened
to the dilgent search for life's highest
values-the buying of the pearl of great
price. worth all the rest and more And
each disciple has such surprise and such