The Meridian Dispensation. (Note 1)
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE FORERUNNER AND THE CHRIST.
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. The Ministry of the Baptist.
1. John's Special Message.
2. The Baptism of Jesus.
3. His Testimony of the Divinity of Jesus.
St. John i:6-36; also iii:23-36[A]Matt. iii. Mark i. Luke iii:1-23. Notes 4, 5.
II. The Ministry of Jesus.
1. The Call of the Twelve.
2. Messiah's Precepts.
3. The Manner of His Teaching.
Luke iv:1-23. Mark i:14, 15.
Matt, iv:12-25. John i:35-61.
Matt, v-vii. St. John vi-viii. Note 6.
[Footnote A: St. John's Gospel gives the most complete account of John the Baptists' ministry, and hence is given precedency here. The same method is followed on other topics; that is, the evangelist or authority giving the fullest or most important information is given precedence.]
1. Meridian Dispensation:Meaning really the middle dispensation: the one that comes some where near midway between the first and the last. The first opened with Adam, the last closes with the triumph of the Christ. It would be more agreeable to the writer to call the Dispensation here to be treated the "Christian Dispensation," because Christ is not only the central figure of it, but in it also he lives his earth career, manifests God in the flesh, and opens the way of the resurrection. But since it is imperative that we recognize the real presence of the Christ in every dispensation, from the very first to the very last, it might lead to confusion to call this Meridian Dispensation the Christian Dispensation, and hence the less satisfactory name is used.
2. Treatment of the Meridian Dispensation:It is not the purpose of the lessons covering the period of this Meridian Dispensation to deal either in detail or succinctly with historical events. The general scheme of our present year's work precludes any such attempt. Equally distant is it from our purpose to attempt to treat exhaustively of Christian doctrine, or even the divinity of Christ. The intention of the lesson is merely to present sufficient historical and doctrinal matter as will hold the thought present to the mind that a dispensation of the Gospel was again given to men under the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Christ, and in the birth, life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The aim of the Lessons dealing with this dispensation is merely to treat it as one of many dispensations of the Gospel given to men: not to emphasize its glory, or importance, or treat it as a culmination of ages, or of divine purposes. For that culmination of ages and purposes—"the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times," which will witness gathered together, "in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him;" the age in which the Christ shall be entirely triumphant is an age and dispensation future from the Meridian Dispensation, as we shall fully see before this division of our work closes. Here it is thought necessary only to guard the student against disappointment by cautioning him not to expect too much.
3. Literature of the Meridian Dispensation:"The history of the Meridian Dispensation divides itself into two chief parts: (1) The Revelation of the Gospel by Jesus Christ, including the accomplishment of his work of redemption; and (2) the Propagation of the Gospel, and full establishment of the Christian Church, after his ascension. The former history is written in the "Gospels," of the "Four Evangelists," the respective openings of which furnish us with four different, but almost equally important, starting-points for all that follows. St. Matthew, who writes with the most constant reference to the fulfillment of prophecy, begins by showing that Jesus Christ was, by his reputed father Joseph, the son of David, and the son of Abraham; the predicted king of the royal line of Judah; the promised seed, in whom all kindreds of the earth were to be blessed; the great object of Covenants made by God wih Abraham and with David. St. Mark, commencing at once with the public proclamation of Christ, dates "the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God" from the ministry of John the Baptist as his forerunner. St. Luke places in the forefront of his narrative its practical purpose, for the instruction of a convert to Christianity, and begins "to write in order" from the birth of John the Baptist, and of Christ himself. St. John, having his mind imbued with the mysteries revealed to the "disciples whom Jesus loved," goes hack to a "beginning" antecedent to all time, and displays the eternal and divine glory of that "Life and Light," which were, manifested by Christ when he appeared on earth.
And what is true of the beginning of the Gospel history applies to each step of its subsequent development. Critics may speculate on some common remoter source of the narratives of the four evangelists, till they learn to abandon the unprofitable search; harmonists may pursue their useful labors so far as to be in danger of confounding the separate characters, the four documents, in the artificial compound of their own making; but the student who rightly appreciates the purpose of God's providence, in entrusting the record to four writers instead of one, will trace the distinct spirit of each as really his own, and will find the truest harmony in the concordant spiritual impression they produce, under the guidance of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost." (Dr. Smith's New Testament History, p. 178.)
The Literature of the second part of the Meridian Dispensation, viz. "The Propagation of the Gospel" is found in the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles and treatis that make up the balance of the New Testament. History says:
"St. Luke's "Second Treatise" or Discourse, (The Acts) addressed to Theophilus, bears a title apt to mislead the reader; a title certainly not given it by its author. It contains no full account of the "Acts of the Apostles." Most of them are never mentioned even by name, after the list given in the first chapter; and the history of St. Paul is not brought down to his death. Its true subject is the fulfillment of the promise of the Father by the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the results of that outpouring, in the diffusion of the Gospel among Jews and Gentiles. It deals only with the beginning of this great theme; and, having shown us the full establishment of Christ's Church, first in the Holy Land, then in those Eastern and Grecian provinces of the Roman empire which the Jews were wont to regard as representing the whole Gentile world, and finally at Rome; it leaves all the future progress of the Gospel to be recorded by the Church itself.
"And the point where the sacred history thus breaks off is marked by a most striking change in the character of the records. There is a great gulf between the last verses of the 'Acts' and the last allusions in the Epistles of St. Paul, and the earliest authentic chapters of what is called 'Ecclesiastical History.' The chasm is only bridged over by traditions of uncertain value, in which even the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul is disfigured by childish legends, and worldly principles are already seen at work in the kingdom of Christ." (Ibid, p. 378.)
It will greatly aid in understanding the doctrinal development of this dispensation if it is remembered that the Gospels of the New Testament were not written first, nor even the Acts of the Apostles; that most likely some of the epistles of Paul form the older written documents of the Meridian Dispensation (for the probable order in which these epistles were written see Seventy's Year Book, No. I. note, pp. 88-9); and, that while the Apostle of the Gentiles had the personal, verbal narratives of some of the Apostles who were companions of the Master to aid him in forming his conceptions of the Life and Mission of Christ, he had no such written treasury as we now have in the four-fold story of the Evangelists.
The literature of the Meridian Dispensation on the Western hemisphere is found in the Book of Mormon. Prophetically (and it should be remembered that prophecy is but reversed history) in the record on the small plates of Nephi (the first 157 pages of the book), as also in the abridged records of Mormon, more especially the Book of Alma (12, 13 and 42nd chapters); and Historically in III Nephi, which has not inappropriately been called "The Fifth Gospel," and "The American Gospel" (See Lecture on the subject, "Defense of the Faith and the Saints" pp. 371-399), because it details the ministry of the Christ in the western hemisphere, and adds largely to views of the world-mission of the Christ, the Christ.
4. The Spirit of the Age at the Opening of the Meridian Dispensation:The Editor of Dr. Jortin's "Remarks on Ecclesiastical History," in a foot note, Commenting on the remark of his author to the effect that it had often been observed that Christianity made its appearance in the most proper time, and under a favorable concurrence of circumstances, says: "With respect to the fitness of the time at which Christianity made its appearance, the civilization, which everywhere accompanied the progress of Roman conquest, was favorable to the extension of a religion which the arms of the Caesars had now achieved. The tendency of the Pagan superstitions to degrade the human mind, and the demoralizing effects of the prevailing Epicurism,—against which the severities of the Stoics and refinements of the Platonists exercised, if any, the most trifling influence,—had yet contributed to arouse all but the most abandoned to the necessity of a reformation, and thus to prepare the way for the reception of the doctrines of the Gospel, at a period when the union of so many nations under one power would facilitate their propagation. It has been said, indeed, that the gradual development of the powers of the human understanding resulted, as it were, spontaneously in the Christian system; but the time, however, fitted for the reception of the Gospel, was altogether inadequate to its production. Not only was Christianity before the age in which it appeared, but it has remained in advance of the highest moral perfection to which the mind of man has yet attained, or, without its aid, is capable of attaining." (Jortin on Ecclesiastical History, p. 1).
5. The Greatness of John the Baptist's Mission:"Among those that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptist: nevertheless, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
How is it that John was considered one of the greatest Prophets? His miracles could not have constituted his greatness.
Firstly. He was intrusted with a divine mission of preparing the way before the face of the Lord. Whoever had such a trust committed to him before or since? No man.
Secondly. He was intrusted with the important mission, and it was required at his hands to baptize the Son of Man. Whoever had the honor of doing that? Whoever had so great a privilege and glory? Whoever led the Son of God into the Water of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove, or rather the sign of a dove, in witness of that administration? The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the Devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It does not confine itself to the form of a dove, but in sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence.
Thirdly. John, at that time, was the only legal administrator in the affairs of the kingdom there was then on earth and holding the keys of power. The Jews had only to obey his instructions or be damned, by their own law; and Christ himself fulfilled all righteousness in becoming obedient to the law which he had given to Moses on the mount, and thereby magnified it and made it honorable, instead of destroying it. The son of Zachariah wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews, by the holy anointing and degree of heaven; and these three reasons constitute him the greatest Prophet bom of a woman.
Second question: How was the least in the kingdom of heaven greater than he?
In reply, I asked—Whom did Jesus have reference to as being the least? Jesus was looked upon as having the least claim in all God's kingdom and was least entitled to their credulity as a Prophet, as thought kingdom, and was least entitled to their credulity as a Prophet, as though he had said—"He that is considered the least among you is greater than John—that is, myself." (Mill. Star, Vol. XX, pp. 455-6.)
6. The Manner of Christ's Teaching:"Next to what our Saviour taught may be considered the manner of his teaching; which was extremely peculiar, yet, I think, precisely adapted to the peculiarity of his character and situation. His lessons did not consist of disquisitions; of any thing like moral essays, or like sermons, or like set treatises upon the several points which he mentioned. When he delivered a precept, it was seldom that he added any proof or argument; still more seldom, that he accompanied it with, what all precepts require, limitations and distinctions. His instructions were conceived in short, emphatic, sententious rules, in occasional reflections, or in round maxims. I do not think that this was a natural, or would have been a proper method for a philosopher or a moralist; or that it is a method which can be successfully imitated by us. But I contend that it was suitable to the character which Christ assumed, and to the situation in which, as a teacher, he was placed. He produced himself as a messenger from Cod. He put the truth of what he taught upon authority. In the choice, therefore of his mode of teaching, the purpose by him to be consulted was impression; because conviction, which forms the principal end of our discourses, was to arise in the minds of his followers from a different source, from their respect to his person and authority. Now, for the purpose of impression singly and exclusively. (I repeat again that we are not here to consider the convincing of the understanding), I know nothing which would have so great force as strong ponderous maxims, frequently urged, and frequently brought back to the thoughts of the hearers. I know nothing that could in this view be said better, than 'Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you.' The first and great commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; and the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. It must also be remembered, that our Lord's ministry, upon the supposition either of one year or three, compared with his work, was of short duration; that, within this time, he had many places to visit, various audience's to address; that his person was generally besieged by crowds of followers; that he was, sometimes, driven away from the place where he was teaching by persecution, and at other times, thought fit to withdraw himself from the commotions of the populace. Under these circumstances, nothing appears to have been so practicable, or likely to be so efficacious, as leaving, wherever he came, concise lessons of duty. These circumstances at least show the necessity he was under of comprising what he delivered within a small compass. In particular, his sermon upon the mount ought always to be considered with a view to these observations. The question is not, whether a fuller, a more accurate more systematic, or a more argumentative, discourse upon morals might not have been pronounced; but whether more could have been said in the same room, better adapted to the exigencies of the hearers, or better calculated for the purpose of impression. Seen in this light it has always appeared to me to admirable. Dr. Lardner thought that this discourse was made up of what Christ had said at different times, and on different occasions, several of which occasions are noticed in Saint Luke's narrative. I can perceive no reason for this opinion I believe that our Lord delivered this discourse at one time and place, in the manner related by Saint Matthew, and that he repeated the same rules and maxims at different times, as opportunity or occasion suggested that they were often in his mouth, and were repeated to different audiences and in various conversations.
"It is incidental to this mode of moral instruction, which proceeds not by the proof but upon authority, not by disquisition, but by precept, that the rules will be conceived in absolute terms, leaving the application, and the distinctions that attend it to the reason of the hearer. It is likewise to be expected that they will be delivered in terms by so much the more forcible and energetic, as they have to encounter natural or general propensities. It is farther also to be remarked, that many of those strong instances, which appear in our Lord's sermon, such as, 'If any men will smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also:' 'If any man will sue thee at law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also:' 'Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain;' though they appear in the form of specific precepts, are intended as descriptive of disposition and character. A specific compliance with the precepts would be of little value, but the disposition which they inculcate is of the highest. He who should content himself with waiting for the occasion, and with literally observing the rule when the occasion offered, would do nothing or worse than nothing; but he who considers the character and disposition which is hereby inculcated, and places that disposition before him as the model to which he should bring his own, takes, perhaps, the best possible method of improving the benevolence, and of calming and rectifying the vices of his temper.
"If it be said that this disposition is unattainable, I answer, so is all perfection; ought therefore a moralist to recommend imperfections? One excellency; ought therefore a moralist to recommend imperfections? never mistaken, or never so mistaken as to do harm. I could feign a hundred cases in which the literal application of the rule, 'of doing to others as we would that others should do unto us,' might mislead us; but I never yet met with the man who was actually misled by it. Not withstanding that our Lord bade his followers not to resist evil, and 'to forgive the enemy who should trespass against them, not till seven times, but till seventy times seven,' the Christian world has hitherto suffered little by too much placability or forbearance. I would repeat once more, what has already been twice remarked, that these rules were designed to regulate personal conduct from personal motives, and for this purpose alone.
"I think that these observations will assist us greatly in placing our Saviour's conduct, as a moral teacher, in a proper point of view; especially when it is considered, that to deliver moral disquisitions was no part of his design,—to teach morality at all was only a subordinate part of it; his great business being to supply, what was much more wanting than lessons of morality, stronger moral sanctions, and clearer assurances of a future judgment." (Paley's View of the Evidences of Christianity, pp. 151, 2, 3.)
For further reflections upon the excellence of the manner of the Messiah's teaching, and especially for the consideration of added strength and beauties to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount, in the Book of Mormon, see Lecture on the Fifth Gospel (III Nephi) Defense of the Faith and the Saints, pp. 383-389.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.) THE STATE OF THE WORLD AT MESSIAH'S ADVENT.
(A Discourse[A])
[Footnote A: This is a subject usually treated at great length in nearly all Ecclesiastical Histories; so that information is abundant. See "Mosheim, Ecclesiastical Institutes": also the same author's "History of Christianity in the First Three Centuries;" Schaff's "History of the Apostolic Church"; Neander's "History of the Christian Religion" Vol. I; Milman "History of Christianity" Vol. 1; Edersheisn's "Life and Times of the Messiah"; Vol. I, Introduction and Book I, Dr. Smith's "New Testament History," Book I, especially Appendix to Book I. Robert's "Outlines of Ecclesiastical History," Sec. II and notes.]
1. Suggestions to the Teacher:This subject could to advantage be divided and assigned to two or even three speakers. Say I, The Political state of the World: II, The Political Status of the Jews at Messiah's Birth: III, The Religious state of heathen nations and of the Jews at Messiah's Birth. Members should be urged to give something of completeness to their treatis upon these and all subjects assigned to them as lectures, or discourses.
2. Suggestions to the Speaker:On the Importance of a Plan: On the subject of constructing a plan for a discourse, Mr. Pittinger who was quoted so frequently in our first Seventy's Year Book, says:
"No part of a speaker's work is more important than that of constructing a good plan. If this is not well done the fullest success is impossible. In speech all thoughts are expressed by the slow process of successive words. If these are badly chosen and so arranged as to carry forward the current of thought in the wrong direction, almost endless hindrance and distraction may follow. And as these words, in extempore speech, are given forth on the spur of the moment, it becomes necessary to make such an arrangement that the proper idea to be dissolved into words shall always be presented to the mind at the proper time. In some cases this disposition of parts is very easy. A course indicated by the very nature of the subject will sometimes spring into view and relieve us of all further embarrassment. * * * * * But more frequently this portion of the speaker's task will both require and repay severe thought." ("Extempore Speech," p. 166.)
Do not forget our old formula in the matter of plans—an Introduction, a Discussion, a Conclusion.
Of the Different Kinds of Plans: Our author, speaking of those plan he considers of practical importance, says:
(a). The first of these may be called the narrative method. It is most frequently used when the recital of some history forms the principal part of the discourse. Certain leading events, either grouped together according to their nature or following the order of time, furnish the primary divisions. This kind of a discourse follows the same laws, in the arrangement of the different parts, as histories, romances, and narrative poems. The order of time is the most obvious method of constructing it, but this order should not be adhered to when the story can be better and more dramatically told by varying from it. Both introduction and conclusion should be very carefully selected—the former to arouse attention and direct it in the right course; the latter to leave the strongest impression and the one most in harmony with the object of the speaker.
(b). The second method is the textual, and is especially though not exclusively adapted to sermons. In it a verse from the Bible, a motto, a sentence used by an opponent, or some definite form of very significant words, affords a basis for each part of the discourse. The order of the discourse may, however, be different from that of the words in the text, any change being allowable which secures more of the advantages of the narrative or logical methods. When the text is itself well known, a plan based upon it has an obvious advantage in assisting the memory both of speaker and hearer, by suggesting each part of the discourse at the proper time. When any lecture or oration has a formal motto which sums up and fairly expresses the subject discussed, the textual plan will be as well adapted to it as to a sermon.
(c). The logical or mathematical method is the third and probably the most symmetrical form the plan may assume. A topic is taken, and after the introduction, which may be the mere statement of the subject, or of the relations of the speaker or of the audience to it, that subject is unfolded with all the precision of a proposition in geometry. Each thought is preliminary to that which follows, and the whole ends in the demonstration of some great truth and the deduction of its legitimate corollaries. This method is the best possible in those cases adapted to it—particularly those in which some abstruse subject is to be unfolded and proved.
(d). The last method we will describe proceeds by divisions and subdivisions. It is the military method, for in it the discourse is organized like an army, into corps, brigades, and regiments; or it is like a tree, which divides into two or three principal branches, and these again subdivide until the finest twigs are reached. All the detached items that have been selected are brought into related groups each governed by a central thought, and these again are held in strict subordination to the supreme idea. A subject will many times arrange itself almost spontaneously into several different parts, which thus form the proper divisions, and these again may be easily analyzed into their proper subdivisions. Even when this is not the case, we will see, as we examine the jottings we have made while gathering our materials, that a few of the ideas stand out in special prominence, and with a little close study of relations and affinities all the others may be made to group themselves around these. The individual ideas we put down on the first study of the subject usually form the subdivisions, and some generalization of them. It is not well to make the branches of a subject too numerous or they will introduce confusion and fail to be remembered. From two to four divisions with two or three subdivisions under each, are in a majority of cases better than a large number. The tendency to multiply them to a great extent, and then to name them in the moment of delivery, in their order of firstly, secondly, etc., is in a great measure responsible for the popular estimate of the dryness of sermons, where this kind of plan prevails more than anywhere else." (Extempore Speech, pp. 167-9.)
(e). Of the several kinds of discourses here alluded to no better examples may be formed of the historical discourse than that of the Christian martyr Stephen, Acts, vii; of the logical or argumentative discourse Peter's Discourse on the Day of Pentecost. The nearest approach to the Discourses based upon a text in the New Testament is Paul's speech in Mars Hill, at Athens, Acts xvii:22-31.
Clearness in Speeches:This subject has been referred to in Lesson VI, XIII, XVI, and what is there said should here be reviewed not only by those assigned especially to this lesson, but by the whole class. One of the chief faults opposed to clearness is ambiguity. This is defined as follows: "The term 'ambiguity' comes from the Latin ambiguos, which means "wavering" or "uncertain," and an ambiguous sentence is one containing a word, a phrase, or a clause, capable of two or more interpretations." (Composition and Rhetoric, Herrick and Damon, p. 302.)
As example of ambiguity the authority just quoted gives the following:
Example:1. We hold a grand raffle Friday for the benefit of William Miller who lost his foot for a fine clock last week.
Corrected:We hold a grand raffle Friday for a fine clock, for the benefit of William Miller who lost his foot last week.
Example:2. Then he came into the room talking about the relations between Smith and Johnson, and he said that if he didn't stop that sort of thing very soon, he was sure to get into trouble.
Corrected:Then he came into the room talking about the relations between Smith and Johnson, and said that if the former didn't stop irritating Smith very soon, he was sure to get into trouble.
Example:3. I only thought that he wouldn't go unless I bought him off, not that he wouldn't go at all.
Corrected:I thought only that he wouldn't go unless I bought him off, not that he wouldn't go at all.
Example:4. The banker, though he trusted the teller, as is apt to be the case with men of his sort, yet felt that the loss occurred at his desk.
Corrected:Though the banker, as is apt to be the case with men of his sort, trusted the teller, yet he felt that the loss had occurred at the latter's desk.
Commenting on the above our author says: "The first sentence seems to say that Miller gave his foot in exchange for a fine clock. Sentence two leaves in doubt whether the one who is to get into trouble is the speaker, Smith, or Johnson. In three, "I only" might be taken to mean "I alone." In four, it is uncertain whether such men as the banker commonly trust all tellers, or whether this teller is the sort of man whom most people trust."
It will be observed that the ambiguity of the above sentences are chiefly the result of a bad arrangement of words or clauses rather than the wrong use of words. The effort of the speaker, therefore, should be to make such an arrangement of words and clauses in his sentences as to clearly express his meaning.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHRIST.
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. The Divinity of Jesus Established:
1. Called God in the Scriptures.
2. Jesus declares Himself to be God—the Son of God.
3. Jesus Christ to be worshiped, hence God.
4. Jesus Christ the Creator, hence God.
5. Jesus Christ equal with God, the Father,—hence God.
Isiah vii:14 in con. with Matt, i:23; Isaiah ix:6. Doc. and Cov., Sec. 93:1-18. Heb. i:8.
St. John v:19 and x:33-38. Matt, xxv:63, 44; and Matt, xxviii:18, 19. Note 1.
Heb. i:5,6; Phil. ii:9, 10.
St. John i:1-4, 14; Col. i:12-17; Rev. xiv; 7. Matt, xxviii:18, 19; Phil, ii:6. Heb. iii:3. II Cor. iv:4. 4. Col. i:5, 19, also ii:9.
On all sub-divisions of the subject see "Mormon Doctrine of the Deity," pp. 187-194, and the notes in this lesson.
1. Relationship of Jesus to God, the Father:It is to be observed in passing that Jesus himself came with no abstract definition of Cod Nowhere in his teachings can you find any argument about the existence of God. That he takes for granted; assumes as true; and from that basis proceeds as a teacher of men. Nay more; he claims God as his Father. It is not necessary to quote texts in proof of this statement; the New Testament is replete with declarations of that character What may be of more importance for us at the present moment is to call attention to the fact that God himself also acknowledged the relationship which Jesus claimed. Most emphatically did he do so on the memorable occasion of the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan. You remember how the scriptures, acording to Matthew, tell us that as Jesus came up out of the water from his baptism, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove upon him; and at the same moment, out of the stillness came the voice of God, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." On another occasion the Father acknowledges the relationship—at the transfiguration of Jesus in the mount, in the presence of three of his apostles, Peter and James and John, and the angels Moses and Elias. The company was overshadowed by a glorious light, and the voice of God was heard to say of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son; hear him.. Of this the apostles in subsequent years testified, and we have on record their testimony. So that the existence of God the Father, and the relationship of Jesus to him, is most clearly show in these scriptures." (Mormon Doctrine of Deity, p. 12, 13.)
2. Jesus Declared to be God:"But Jesus himself claimed to be the Son of God and in this connection there is clearly claimed for him divinity, that is to say, Godship. Let me read to you a direct passage upon that subject; it is to be found in the gospel according to St. John, and reads as follows:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. * * * * * And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.
The identity between Jesus of Nazareth—"the Word made flesh"—and the "Word" that was "with God from the beginning," and that "was God," is so clear that it cannot possibly be doubted. So the Son is God, as well as the Father. (Ibid, pp. 13, 14.)
3. The Godhead—Composed of Three Distinct Persons:"These three, the Father. Son, and the Holy Ghost, it is true, are spoken of in the most definite manner as being God, but the distinction of one from the other is also clearly marked in the scriptures, or illustration take the circumstances connected with the baptism of Jesus. There we may see the three distinct personalities most clearly. The Son coming up out of the water from his baptism: the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit descending upon him; while out of heaven the voice of God is heard saying "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Here three Gods are distinctly apparent. They are seen to be distinct from each other. They appear-simultaneously, not as one, but as three, each one being a different thing, so that however completely they may be one in spirit, in purpose, in will they are clearly distinct as persons—as individuals. In several instances in the scriptures these three personages are accorded equal dignity in the Godhead. An example is found in the commission which Jesus gave to his disciples after his resurrection, when he sent them out into the world to preach the Gospel to all nations. He stood in the presence of the eleven, and said:
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Each of the three is here given equal dignity in the Godhead.
Again in the apostolic benediction:
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. * * * * * These three personages then are of equal dignity in the Godhead, according to the teachings of the New Testament, and each is equally divine—equally God. Hence Jesus is God equally with God the Father, and with the Holy Ghost." (Ibid, pp. 15-6, 7.)
4. What Think Ye of Christ?"Said Jesus to the Pharisees. What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them. How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. If David then call him [that is, the Christ] Lord, how is He his son. And no man was able to answer him a word."
It seems to me that we have right here, what we might regard as the beginning of the proclamation of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here let me say, in passing, that the world is waking up to something of a comprehension of the necessity for affirming the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have here a note in manuscript, that I will read to you, a declaration from one of the first scientists of our age, a Christian man who stands well advanced on the far-flung line of modern Christian thought. Having called attention the humanity of Jesus Christ, to His unity with the human race, and emphasizing the fact that He is human, one of our race, after setting forth that doctrine, this learned man says:
"The conception of Godhead formed by some devout philosophers and mystics has quite rightly been so immeasurably vast, though still assuredly utterly inadequate and necessarily beneath reality, that the notion of a God revealed in human form—born, suffering, tormented, killed—has been utterly incredible. 'A crucified prophet; yes; but a crucified God! I shudder at the blasphemy,' is a known quotation which I cannot now verify; yet that apparent blasphemy is the soul of Christianity. It calls upon us to recognize and worship a crucified, an executed, God. * * * The world is full of men: What the world wants is a God. Behold the God! The divinity of Jesus is the truth which now requires to be re-perceived to be illumined afresh by new knowledge, to be cleansed and revivified by the wholesome flood of scepticism which has poured over it; it can be freed now from all trace of groveling superstition, and can be recognized freely and enthusiastically; the divinity of Jesus, and of all noble and saintly souls, in so far as they too have been inflamed by a spark of Deity—in so far as they too can be recognized as manifestations of the Divine." (Sir Oliver Lodge in Hibbert Journal for April, 1906, Art. "Christianity and Science.")
I say the world is waking up to the consciousness of their need of having in concrete form a conception of God that appeals to the understanding of men, and that is to be found in the revelations of God. Paul was right when he said
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest ["manifested" is the marginal reading] in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
This in plain allusion to the Christ, of course.
5. God Revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ:"This completes the survey I intended to make of this field. [Reference is made to a review of prevailing ideas about God in the world at the advent of Jesus.] Nowhere have we found a knowledge of the true and living God. Nowhere a teacher who comes with definite knowledge of this subject of all subjects;—a subject so closely related to eternal life, that to know God is said in the scriptures to be life eternal; and of course, the cor-life. We can form no other conclusion from the survey we have taken of the world's ideas respecting the existence and nature of God, than that forced upon us—the world stood in sore need of a revelation of God. He whom the Egyptians and Indians sought for in their Pantheism, must be made known. God, whom Confucius would have men respect, but keep at a distance, must draw near. The "Alfader" of the Goths, undefined, incomprehensible to them, must be brought out of the northern darkness into glorious light. The God-idea that prevailed among the Greek philosophers must be brought from the mists of their idle speculations and made to stand before the world. He whom the Jews were seeking to deny and forsake must be revealed again to the children of men. And lo! when the vail falls from the revelation that God gives of himself—what form is that which steps forth from the background of the world's ignorance and mystery? A Man, as God lives! Jesus of Nazareth—the great Peasant Teacher of Judea. He is God revealed henceforth to the world. They who thought God impersonal, without form must know him henceforth as a person in the form of man. They who have held him to be without quality, must henceforth know him as possessed of the qualities of Jesus of Nazareth. They who have regarded him as infinitely terrible, must henceforth know him also as infinitely gentle. Those who would hold him at a distance, will now permit him to draw near. This is the world's mystery revealed. This is God manifested in the flesh. This is the Son of God, who comes to reveal the Father, for he is the express image and likeness of that Father's person, and the reflection of that Father's mind. Henceforth when men shall say, Show us the Father, he shall point to himself as the complete revelation of the Father, and say, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father also." Henceforth, when men shall dispute about the "being" and "nature" of God, it shall be a perfect answer to uphold Jesus Christ as the complete, perfect revelation and manifestation of God, and through all the ages it shall be so; there shall be no excuse for men saying they know not God, for all may know him, from the least to the greatest, so tangible, so real a revelation has God given of himself in the person and character of Jesus Christ. He lived his life on earth—a life of sorrow and of gentleness, it's pathway strewn with actions fraught with mercy, kindness, and love. A man he was, approved of God among men, by miracles, and wonders and signs which God did by him. Being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, men took and by wicked hands crucified and slew him, but God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it; and exalted him on high at the right hand of God, whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." (Mormon Doctrine of Deity; pp. 185-6.)
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS.
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. Ordinances:
1. Baptism.
2. Confirmation.
3. Eucharist.[A]
Heb. vi:1[B]; Acts ii:37-38. Acts viii:4-20. Note 1 and 2.
Matt, xxviii:19. Mark xvi:16. John iii:3-5. Heb. vi:2; II Cor. iii:6 cf. Acts xix:6; II Tim. i:6; Acts viii:15-20. Notes 3, 4.
Matt, xxvi:26-28. Mark xvi:22-24. Luke xxii:19, 20. John xiii. I Cor. xi. 23-25. Note 5, 6.
[Footnote A: Eucharist. The Lord's Supper, a solemn rite commemorating the dying of Christ for the salvation of men; the holy sacrament; the communion of the body and blood of Christ. (Funk & Wagnall Diet.)]
[Footnote B: On all the above subdivisions the Bible Dictionaries, Kitto's Biblical Literature, Smith's New Testament History, etc., can be consulted to advantage, though it should always be remembered that the utterances of these authorities are to be carefully weighed.]
1. The Baptism of John and Christian Baptism:"The relation of the baptism of John to the Christian baptism gave rise to a sharp controversy in the sixteenth century. Zwingle and Calvin were in favor of the essential equality of the two; while Luther, Melanchthon, and the Catholic church (Concil. Trent. Sess. vii), maintained the contrary. The only difference Calvin allowed was, that John baptized in the name of the future Messiah, while the apostles baptized in that of the Messiah already come. But this difference could be of little moment; the less so, since a step towards the manifestation of the Messiah was already made in the appearance of John himself (comp. John i. 31). On the other hand, Calvin considers the most important point of equality between the two to exist in the fact, that both include repentance and pardon of sin in the name of Christ." (Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, p. 283.) Kitto's whole article may be studied with profit.
The fact is that there was no difference between the baptism administered by John and Christian baptism, except, as allowed by Calvin, according to the above; one baptized in the name of a future Messiah, and the other in the name of one already come. But general baptism was for the same purpose in all dispensations—it was Christian baptism—i. e. baptism for the remission of sins—baptism to which the atonement of the Christ gave efficacy whether administered in view of his anticipated coming or in realization of the fact of his having come and completed his work of atonement.
2. Baptism of the Disciples of Jesus:"Whether our Lord ever baptized has been doubted. The only passage which may distinctly bear on the question is John iv. l, 2, where it is said "that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples." We necessarily infer from it, that, as soon as our Lord began his ministry, and gathered to Him a company of disciples, He, like John the Baptist, admitted into that company by the administration of baptism. Normally, however, to say the least of it, the administration of baptism was by the hands of his disciples. Some suppose that the first-called disciples had all received baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, as must have pretty certainly been the case with Andrew (see John i. 35, 40); and that they were not again baptized with water after they joined the company of Christ. Others believe that Christ himself baptized some few of his earlier disciples, who were afterwards authorized to baptize the rest. But in any case the words above cited seem to show that the making of disciples and the baptizing of them went together; and that baptism was, even during our Lord's earthly ministry the formal mode of accepting his service and becoming attached to his company." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 235.)
3. Confirmation:"The Laying on of Hands" was considered in the ancient church as the 'Supplement of Baptism.' 1. Imposition of hands is a natural form by which benediction has been expressed in all ages and among all people. It is the act of one superior either by age or spiritual position towards an inferior, and by its very form it appears to bestow some gift, or to manifest a desire that some gift is symbolically bestowed, as when guiltiness was thus transferred by the high-priest to the scape-goat from the congregation (Lev. xvi. 21); but, in general, the gift is of something good which God is supposed to bestow by the channel of the laying on of hands. Thus, in the Old Testament, Jacob accompanies his blessing to Ephraim and Manasseh with imposition of hands (Gen. xlviii. 14); Joshua is ordained in the room of Moses by imposition of hands (Num. xxvii. 18; Deut. xxxiv. 9); cures seem to have been wrought by the prophets by imposition of hands (2 K. v. ii); and the high priest, in giving his solemn benediction, stretched out his hands over the people (Lev. ix. 22). The same form was used by our Lord in blessing and occasionally in healing, and it was plainly regarded by the Jews as customary or befitting (Matt. xix. 13; Mark viii. 23, x. 16). One of the promises at the end of St. Mark's Gospel to Christ's followers is that they should cure the sick by laying on of hands (Mark xvi. 18); and accordingly we find that Saul received his sight (Acts ix. 17) and Publius's father was healed of his fever (Acts xxviii. 6) by imposition of hands. In the Acts of the Apostles the nature of the gift or blessing bestowed by Apostolic imposition of hands is made clearer. It is called the gift of the Holy Ghost (viii. 17, xix. 6) * * * By the time that the Epistle to the Hebrew was written we find that there existed a practice and doctrine of imposition of hands, which is pronounced by the writer of the Epistle to be one of the first principles and fundamentals of Christianity, which he enumerates in the following order: (1) The doctrine of Repentance; (2) of Faith; (3) of Baptism; (4) ofLaying on of Hands;(5) of the Resurrection; (6) of Eternal Judgment (Heb. vi. 1, 2). Laying on of Hands in this passage can mean only one of three things—Ordination, Absolution, or that which we have already seen in the Acts to have been practiced by the Apostles, imposition of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost on the baptized. The meaning of Ordination is excluded by the context. We have no proof of the existence of the habitual practice of Absolution at this period nor of its being accompanied by the laying on of hands. Everything points to that laying on of hands which, as we have seen, immediately succeeded baptism in the Apostolic age, and continued to do so in the ages immediately succeeding the Apostles. * * * The Fathers, says Hooker, "everywhere impute unto it that gift or grace of the Holy Ghost, not which maketh us first Christian men, but, when we are made such, assisteth us in all virtue, armeth us against temptation and sin. * * * The Fathers therefore, being thus persuaded, held confirmation as an ordinance Apostolic, always profitable in God's Church, although not always accompanied with equal largeness of those external effects which gave it countenance at the first." (Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I, p. 242-244.)
4. The Time of Confirmation:"Originally Imposition of Hands followed immediately upon Baptism, so closely as to appear as part of the baptismal ceremony or a supplement to it. This is clearly stated by Tertullian (De Bapt. vii, viii), Cyril (Catech. Myst. iii. I), the author of the Apostolic Constitutions (vii. 43), and all early Christian writers." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, pp. 242, 3, 4.)
5. Eucharist:Paul's account of the establishment of this Christian institution is perhaps the earliest written and the most complete: "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."
Comment on the Above:From Paul's description of the ordinance, it is clear that the broken bread was an emblem of Messiah's broken body; the wine an emblem of his blood, shed for sinful man; and his disciples were to eat the one and drink the other in remembrance of him until he should return; and by this ceremony show forth the Lord's death. It was designed as a memorial of Messiah's great Atonement for mankind, a token and witness unto the Father that the Son was always remembered. It was to be a sign that those partaking of it were willing to take upon them the name of Christ, to always remember him, and keep his commandments. In consideration of these things being observed, the saints were always to have the Spirit of the Lord to be with them. In this spirit and without great ceremony the sacrament was administered for some time in the early Christian church.
7. Prayer of Consecration Given to the Nephites:"The manner of the Elders and Priests administering the flesh and blood of Christ unto the church. And they administered it according to the commandments of Christ; wherefore we know the manner to be true; and the Elder or Priest did minister it. And they did kneel down with the church, and pray to the Father in the name of Christ saying, 'Oh God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that he may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen." (Moroni iv. 3.)
"The manner of administering the wine. Behold, they took the cup, and said, O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them, that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen." (Moroni v. 12.)
Comment:Of the above prayer I may say what Arch Deacon Paley has so well said of the Lord's Prayer: "For a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention upon a few great points, for suitableness, for sufficiency, for conciseness without obscurity, for the weight and real importance of its petitions"—this prayer so far as I am aware is without an equal excepting, perhaps, the Lord's prayer.
8. Eucharist in the Second Century."When the Christians celebrated the Lord's supper, which they were accustomed to do chiefly on Sundays, they consecrated a part of the bread and wine of the oblations, by certain prayers pronounced by the president, the bishop of the congregation. The wine was mixed with water, and the bread was divided into small pieces. Portions of the consecrated bread and wine were commonly sent to the absent and the sick, in testimony of fraternal affection towards them. There is much evidence that this most holy rite was regarded as very necessary to the attainment of salvation." (Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, p. 137.)
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS,—(Continued.)
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
II. Organizations:
1. The Church.
(a) Preliminary Steps, Gathering and instructing Disciples.
(b) Call of the Twelve.
(c) Appointment of the Seventy.
(d) The Completed Organization.
2. The Mission of the Church.
Matt. iv:12-25. Matt. v-vii, and note 1.
Matt. iv:17-25. Mark i:14-22. Luke v:13-16. Luke x:1-11, 17-20. cf. Seventy's Year Book I, pp. 3, 4. I Cor. xii:27-30. Seventy's Year Book, No. I, pp. 2, 3. Notes 2, 3.
I Cor. xiii:27-30. Eph. iv:1-6., and note.
Seventy's Year Book No. I, pp. 13-4, notes 2, 3, 4, 5. See also note 4 Lesson xxiv.
2. The Church:I. order to propagate the gospel, and teach, encourage, instruct, preserve, and finally perfect those who accepted it, Messiah organized his Church. He bestowed upon its members certain great and precious spiritual gifts and graces, such as the power to speak in new tongues and interpret them; to receive revelation, to prophesy, to see visions, receive the visitation of angels, to possess the gift of wisdom, knowledge, faith, discernment of spirits, and healing the sick. The description of the Church organization in the New Testament is extremely imperfect, owing, no doubt, to the fragmentary character of the Christian annals. While the distinctions between the respective offices in the Priesthood, and the definition of the duties of each officer are even less satisfactory; still there is enough written to enable us to get an outline of the wonderful organization. Messiah, during his personal ministry, organized a quorum of Twelve Apostles, to whom he gave very great powers and authority, even to be witnesses of him among the people, to build up his Church by the proclamation of the gospel, to heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead, and cast out devils. He likewise organized quorums of seventies, unto whom he gave similar powers to those bestowed upon the apostles (c. f. Matt, x, with Luke x). After his resurrection, Messiah was with his apostles and disciples forty days, during which time he was teaching them all things concerning the kingdom of God. Hence we have these men after his ascension organizing branches of the church wherever they found people who received their testimony. In some instances they ordained elders to preside over these branches; and in other instances bishops were appointed. Paul, in giving a description of the organization of the church, says: "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers; after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? The implied answer is that all are not apostles, nor prophets, nor teachers, etc., in the church of Christ, but that the whole body is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth. Undoubtedly the whole organization grew out of the instruction Jesus imparted to the Apostles, but it required time for its foil development.
3. The Church as Described in the New Testament:"The derivation of the word 'church' is uncertain. * * * The word occurs twice, each time in St. Matthew (Matt. xvi. 18, "On this rock will I build my Church;" xviii. 17, "Tell it unto the Church.") In every other case it is spoken of as the kingdom of heaven by St. Matthew, and as the kingdom of God by St. Mark and St. Luke. St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John never use the expression kingdom of heaven. St. John once uses the phrase kingdom of God (iii. 3). St. Matthew occasionally speaks of the kingdom of God (vi. 33, xxi. 31, 43), and sometimes simply of the kingdom (iv. 23, xiii. 19, xxiv. 14). In xiii. 41 and xvi. 28, it is the Son of Man's kingdom. In xx 21, thy kingdom, i. e., Christ's. In the one Gospel of St. Matthew the Church is spoken of no less than thirty-six times as the Kingdom. Other descriptions or titles are hardly found in the Evangelists. It is Christ's household (Matt. x. 25). the salt and light of the world (v. 13, 15), Christ's flock (Matt. xxvi. 31; John x. 1), its members are the branches growing on Christ the Vine (John xv); but the general description of it, not metaphorically, but directly, is that it is a kingdom. * * * The means of entrance into it is Baptism (Matt, xxviii. 19). The conditions of belonging to it are faith (Mark xvi. 16) and obedience (Matt, xxviii. 20). Participation in the Holy Supper is its perpetual token of membership, and the means of supporting the life of its members (Matt. xxvi. 26; John vi. 51; Cor. xi. 26). Its members are given to Christ by the Father out of the world, and sent by Christ into the world; they are sanctified by the truth (John xvii. 19); and they are to live in love and unity, cognizable by the eternal world (John xiii. 34. xvii. 23)." Smith Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 1., p. 453.
4. Definitions of the Church:The Greek Church gives the following: "The Church is a divinely instituted community of men, united by the orthodox faith, the law of God, the hierarchy, and the Sacraments" (Full Catechism of the Orthodox. Catholic, Eastern Church, Moscow, 1839). The Latin Church defines it as, "The company of Christians knit together by the profession of the same faith and the communion of the same sacraments, under the government of lawful pastors, and especially of the Roman bishop as the only Vicar of Christ upon earth." (Bellarm. De Eccl. Mil. iii. 2; see also Devoti Inst. Canon. 1, iv. Romae, 1818.) The Church of England, "A congregation of faithful men in which the pure word of God is preached, and the Sacraments he duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite of the same." (Art. xix.) The Lutheran Church: "A congregation of saints in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the sacraments rightly administered." (Confessio Augustina, 1631, Art. vii.) The Confessio Helvetica: "A congregation of faithful men called, or collected out of the world, the communion of all saints." (Art. xvii.) The Confessio Saxonica: "A congregation of men embracing the Gospel of Christ, and rightly using the Sacraments." (Art. xii.) The Confessio Belgica: "A true congregation, or assembly of all faithful Christians who look for the whole of their salvation from Jesus Christ alone, as being washed by his blood, and sanctiled and sealed by his Spirit." (Art. xvii.) (Smith's Dictionary of the Bible Art Church.) (For our definition of "The Church," see Seventy's Year Book, No. 1, p. 13.)
4. Inadequacy of Foregoing Definitions:"These definitions show the difficulty in which the different sections of the divided Church find themselves in framing a definition which will at once accord with the statements of Holy Scripture, and be applicable to the present state of the Christian world. We have seen that according to the Scriptural view the Church is a holy kingdom, established by God on earth, of which Christ is the invisible King; it is a divinely organized body, the members of which are knit together amongst themselves, and joined to Christ, their Head, by the Holy Spirit, who dwells in and animates it; it is a spiritual but visible society of men united by constant succession to those who were personally united to the Apostles, holding the same faith that the Apostles held, administering the same sacraments, and, like them, forming separate, but only locally separate, assemblies, for the public worship of God. This is the Church according to the Divine intention. But as God permits men to mar the perfection of his design in their behalf, and as men have both corrupted the doctrines and broken the unity of the Church, we must not expect to see the Church of Holy Scripture actually existing in its perfection on earth. It is not to be found, thus perfect, either in the collected fragments of Christendom, or still less in any one of these fragments more than another may approach the Scriptural and Apostolic ideal which existed only until sin, heresy, and schism had time sufficiently to develop themselves to do their work." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 458.)
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
CLIMATIC EVENTS OF THE MERIDIAN DISPENSATION.
ANALYSIS.
REFERENCES.
I. Conspiracy Against the Christ.
Matt, xxvi; xxvii:1-25. Mark xiv; and xv:1-15. St. John xxii and xxiii:1-27. St. John xviii.
II. Death and Resurrection of the Christ.
St. John xix and xx:1-18 Notes 2, 5. Luke xxiii and xxiv. Mark xv and xvi:1-8. Matt, xxvii and xxviii. Matt, xxviii:11-20. Mark xvi; St. John xx:19-31. Luke xxiv:13-53. Acts i:1-14.
III. Post-Resurrection Ministry of Messiah.
1. In Judea.
2. On the Western Hemisphere.
3. Among the "Lost Tribes."
III Nephi chapters xi to xxx inclusive, cf. John x:15, 16. "The Fifth Gospel," Defense of the Faith and the Saints, pp. 373-399.
III Nephi, chs. xv-xvi-xvii.
1. The Agony in Gethsemane:"(Matt, xxvi; vers. 36-46, parallel passages: Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46.) This conflict presents our Lord in the reality of His manhood, in weakness and humiliation, but it is impossible to account for it unless we admit His Divine nature. Had he been a mere man, His knowledge of the sufferings before Him could not have been sufficient to cause such sorrow. The human fear of death will not explain it. As a real man, He was capable of such a conflict. But it took place after the serenity of the Last Supper and sacerdotal prayer, and before the sublime submission in the palace and judgment hall. The conflict, therefore, was a specific agony of itself. He felt the whole burden and mystery of the world's sin, and encountered the fiercest assaults of Satan Otherwise, in this hour this Person, so powerful, so holy, seems to fall below the heroism of martyrs in His own cause. His sorrow did not spring from His own life. His memory or His fears, but from the vicarious nature of the conflict. The agony was a bearing of the weight and sorrow of our sins, in loneliness, in anguish of soul threatening to crush His body, yet borne triumphantly, because in submission to His Father's will. Three times our Lord appeals to that will, as purposing His anguish; that purpose of God in regard to the loveliest, best of men, can be reconciled with justice and goodness in God in but one way; that it was necessary for our redemption. Mercy forced its way through justice to the sinner. Our Lord suffered anguish of soul for sin, that it might never rest on us. To deny this is in effect not only to charge our Lord with undue weakness, but to charge God with needless cruelty. 'Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. ... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.' Isa. 53: 4,5." (International Commentary, Matthew, p. 359.)
2. The Cruelty of Crucifixion:"Crucifixion was a most disgraceful and cruel punishment introduced into Judaea by the Romans and inflicted only on slaves and the worst of criminals. Constantine the Great abolished it. The Jews often hanged those who had been stoned to death, but the corpse must be buried the same day, so as not to pollute the land (Deut. 21:22, 23). The Romans permitted the crucified to die slowly; and the sufferings sometimes continued for three days. Their flesh was given to the birds or other wild animals. As, according to Jewish custom, the bodies must at once be taken down and buried, death was hastened by the crucifragium, the breaking of the legs, to which was sometimes added a mercy-stroke, that is, the piercing of the body. If they were already dead, the latter alone was given, to make the matter sure. The physical sufferings of the victims were fearfully great Dr. Richter, a physician, thus describes them: 1. On account of the unnatural and immovable position of the body and the violent extension of the arms, the least motion produced the most painful sensation all over the body, but especially on the lacerated back and the pierced members. 2. The nails caused constantly increasing pain on the most sensitive parts of the hands and feet. 3. Inflammation set in at the pierced members and wherever the circulation of the blood was obstructed by the violent tension of the body, and increased the agony and an intolerable thirst. 4. The blood rushed to the head and produced the most violent headache. 5. The blood in the lungs accumulated, pressing the heart, swelling all the veins, and caused nameless anguish. Loss of blood through the open wounds would have shortened the pain, but the blood clotted and ceased flowing. Death generally set in slowly, the muscles, veins, and nerves gradually growing stiff, and the vital powers sinking from exhaustion. (From Lange on Matt. pp. 522 sq.) By the crucifixion of our Lord the cross of the bitterest sufferings and cruel death has been changed into a tree of life, that bears the richest fruits of penitence and gratitude. From the moment He was lifted on the cross He began to draw all men unto Him (Comp. John 12: 32)." (Commentary, Matthew, pp. 389-90).
3. Death of the Christ Voluntary:Unbelievers delight to represent God, the great Law Giver, as unspeakably cruel in demanding such an atonement as Christ made for the salvation of the children of men. But let it be born in mind that he who made the atonement did so voluntarily. Testifying to his disciples respecting the matter, he says: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." When his enemies gathered about him,—a former friend betraying him with a kiss,—and Peter prepared to defend him with the sword, he chided him for his rashness, commanding him to put up his sword, and added: "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" Thus down to the very last moment, it appears that Jesus could have been delivered from the sacrifice had he so willed it. But the principle which was the guiding star of his life—"Father, not my will, but thy will be done"—influenced him in this instance, and he drank of the cup given him of his Father, and wrung out the dregs in agony; but he did it voluntarily, and that, too, out of his great love for mankind. (Outlines, Eccl. Hist. Roberts, pp. 93-4.)
"It is manifest, from the history of the death of Christ, that he spake most truly when he said, No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. John x. 18. For how easy would it have been for him, even without a miracle, to have avoided falling into the hands of his enemies? The insidious designs of the Jewish pontiff and chief priests were well known to him; and it is plain that he was no stranger to the treacherous intentions of his perfidious disciple Judas, since he expressly alludes to them on more than one occasion. On the other hand, it appears that he had several great and powerful friends, on whom he could have depended for support. Would he but have quitted Jerusalem, and returned into Galilee, every scheme that had been formed against him must have fallen to the ground. Indeed, even this was not requisite: for his safety would have been completely secured had he merely changed the place of his nightly resort, and, lest Judas should have discovered it, dismissed that wicked and deceitful man from his society. Besides these obvious means, there were others to which he might have had recourse, and which would have proved equally efficient in defeating and bringing to naught the evil councils and designs of the Jewish priests and elders. But it should seem that he disdained, or at least voluntarily neglected to avail himself of any of those precautions, which a very moderate share of human prudence would have suggested to any man under similar circumstances. He remained in Jerusalem; he permitted Judas to continue about his person, in the character of an intimate friend; he continued to pass his nights in the usual and accustomed place. All these circumstances being considered, who is there but must readily perceive that Christ voluntarily subjected himself to the punishment of death, and offered up his life to God as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind?" (History of Christianity, Mosheim. p. 98.)
4. The Vicarious Work of the Christ:"Therefore. I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not! How exquisite you know not! Yes, how hard to bear you know not! For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent. But if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit; and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink. Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men; wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power, and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my spirit." (Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:15-20.)
5. The Appearance of Jesus After His Resurrection:"There are some slight discrepancies in the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in respect to the order of the appearance of Messiah after his resurrection, as indeed there is in respect to the order of the events connected with his trial, condemnation and death; but the following, because of the fragmentary character of the four gospels, may be regarded as being as nearly correct as may be ascertained. First, to Mary Magdalene, in the garden where the tomb in which he was laid was located; second, lo the women returning from the sepulchre on their way to deliver the angel's message to the disciples; third, to two disciples going to Emmaus; fourth, to Peter; fifth, to ten apostles in an upper room; sixth, to the eleven apostles, also in the upper room; seventh, to seven apostles at the sea of Tiberias; eighth, to eleven apostles in a mountain in Galilee; ninth; to above five hundred brethren at once; tenth, to James; and finally to Paul while on his way to Damascus." (Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, p. 65.)
6. The Christ's Post-Resurrection Ministry in Judea:"In all Jesus was with his disciples on the eastern hemisphere for forty days after his resurrection, during which time he taught them all things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven, and authorized them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them; and promised that he would be with them even unto the end of the world. * * * Having thus taught the gospel to the people of the eastern hemisphere, organized his church and commissioned his apostles to teach the gospel to all nations, he prepared to depart from them. It was most probably at Bethany that this solemn parting occurred. His forerunner, John the Baptist, had promised that he who should come after him, Jesus Christ, would baptize them with the Holy Ghost, and just previous to Messiah leaving the apostles he told them that the promise was about to be fulfilled. He therefore commanded them to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endowed with that power from on high. Then he lifted up his hands and blessed them, after which he was parted from them, and a cloud received him out of their sight. As they were still looking steadfastly toward heaven, two men.—angels—in white apparel, stood by them, and declared that this same Jesus whom they had seen go into heaven, should come in like manner, that is, in the clouds of heaven, and in great glory." (Outlines of History, Roberts, pp. 66, 67.)
7. Advent of Messiah on Western Hemisphere:I now turn to a passage I shall read to you from III Nephi, describing the appearance of Jesus on this land (America.) After fearful cataclysms had taken place, a company of men, women and children in the land Bountiful, numbering some 2,500 souls, were assembled together near a temple that had escaped destruction, and they were speaking of the great events of the recent past and the change that was apparent in the whole face of the land. As they were speaking of these signs that had been given of Messiah's birth and death, and conversing concerning Messiah himself, they heard a voice. What was said they could not at first determine, and whence the voice came they could not tell. It grew, however, more and still more distinct, until at last they heard the voice say: