The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1911-04-25

Three and one-hslf Years Our Lord
8 Was a Dual Being.
Hence. during the period of our
Lords ministry. for three and half
years. He was n dual parsonage. So
fAr as form and organism were con-
cerned He was man, but SO far
as mind and purpose and interests
were concerned He was chdn0et--a
New Creature. II spirit being: earthly
things had passed away The New
Creature followed the Instructions of
the Divine Word and provldences to
the c.tcnt of mortifylng the fiesh--
surrcuderin" It fully for the accom-.
plishmeni III it of the Divine will.
"Thc clr'whlrb My Father hath pour
ed for Me shall not drink III"
The great Teacher Himself gives us
the picture of Il human birth as illus
trating the experiences through which
He passed and the similar experiences
through which all of His faithful fol-
lowers must pass In order to reach
the plane of heavenly glory. This pic
ture contains three distinctive views
W begetting--,2, quickening-(3) birth.
These three steps were illustrated by
our Lords own experiences. He was
begotten of the Holy Spirit at the time
Of His consecration at baptism. He
was 1uicepncd or energized by that
Holy Spirit after His forty days ex-
perience in the wilderness when He
began His octire service as "the Mes
senger OF the Covenant" selecting His
Bride. the Church. sb
When He finished His sacrifice at
Calvary the man Jesus was dead, and
the New Creature Jesus. spirit begot-
ten and quickened and developed. was
three and a half years old According
to the Divine Program He slept in
hddeS. the tomb and on the third day
was born from the dead. raised up by
Divine power as New Creature,
being given a spirit body of divine
nature-glory. honor, immortality:
"Him hath God highly exalted" Phi
lippians II. 81. He did not lose His
personality, His identity. and could
therefore properly shy. Il am He that
liyeth md was dead" Rev !, 1s,.
"Now the Lord is That Spirit"
ii Corinthians Ill. IL.
Thus was our Lord put to death in
flesh and qnickened in spirit made
alive in spirit, Spirit Being. True.
He was also quickened dg the Spirit
1t was the Fathers Spirit or Power
which raised Him from the dead. as
the Scriptures declare (Romans will,
III. Indeed. as the Apostle reminds us.
all the blessings of Divine providence
are OF the Father From Him cometh
every good and every perfect gift
He Who ;huS ascended up on high,
the Prince of glory and partnker Of the
divine nature. is the same Who first
descended 10 the earthly nature. yea.
Who was tuniblcd even unto death,
even the death of the Cross. and went
to the tomb ns the sinners substitute
or ransom price The forty days which
interviewed between the Redeemer's
resurrection and His ascension taught
two great lessons:
a. Tint the crucfied One was no
longer held in the bonds of death. no
longer y prisoner in the grave.
(2 1t also taught that the Risen One
was different in many respects from
what lie was before He died No long
er WAS He man. No longer was He
flesh. The body Of flesh prepared for
Him for the suffering of death had
served It's purpose, Re needed it no
-, No
up to the plane Of glory again. AS a
quirkening spirit He was with the dis
ciples during the forty days, instruct
ing them during the few moments of
each of His seven or eight appearances.
But fIe was teaching them equally
when Invisible to them. He noted their
perplexities. His several appearances
were in different forms--as a gardener.
as traveller, as purchaser of fish
on the shore of Lake Tiberias. calling
out. "Have you any tish?' and then.
"Drop the net ON the other side"
He revealed Himself to the disci-
pies in various ways in connection with
those iudferidlisdfiOns and then straight
way He vanished" out of their sight,
to be present with them. unseen. for
days. For Identification He appeared
on two occasions in n body bearing the
marks Of His crucifixion. During those
forty days the faithful Teacher estab-
lished the faith of His followers in
Himself as the glorified Messiah. their
Heavenly Bridegroom. Who would lat
er come again and receive them unto
Himself and Mt that time give to them
also n similar resurrection "change,"
that they should be like Him, "see Him
as He is" and not as He toas, and share
His glory-because 'flesh and blood
cannot inherit the Kingdom Of God" Il
Corinthians XIV, 5G).
"Ahove the Brightness Of the Sum-"
St. Paul. the last of the twelve Apos-
ties to be called Ito take the place OF
Judas. needed. as we'll as the others,
to be able to toitness to the resurrec-
tion of Jesus. OF this He tells us,
saying, "fIe was seen of Cephas, then
OF the twelve: after that he was seen