(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE DIVINITY OF THE CHRIST.

NOTES.

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.)