still to minister only to the Jews. It required a special revelation
from heaven, to arouse them to the fact that the Gospel was for
the Gentiles also. There lived in Caesarea a Roman centurion named
Cornelius. Cornelius was a devout and God-fearing man, though a
Gentile, and prayed much that he might learn what to do to gain eternal
life. One day an angel appeared to him, and instructed him to send
messengers to Joppa for one Simon, surnamed Peter, who should tell
Cornelius what to do. Cornelius sent two of his men immediately to
seek out Peter. Meanwhile, Peter, at Joppa, "went up upon the housetop
to pray about the sixth hour: and he became very hungry, and would
have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw
heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been
a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild
beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a
voice to him. Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord;
for I have {294} never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And
the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed,
that call not thou common." This vision appeared to Peter three times;
and while he was pondering on the meaning of it the messengers of
Cornelius arrived. Peter hurried to Caesarea to minister to Cornelius;
and when he saw that God had blessed Cornelius, Peter understood the
meaning of the vision. "Of a truth," said he, "I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him."
[Sidenote: The preaching of Barnabas and Paul.]
Thenceforth, the apostles preached to the Gentiles as well as to
the Jews. Paul and Barnabas told the truth fearlessly to the Jews
themselves. "It was necessary that the word of God should first have
been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath
the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the
Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the
earth. And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad, and glorified
the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life were
saved."
[Sidenote: "Other sheep."]
Thus was the word of God carried to the Gentiles. But Jesus did not
Himself minister to them during his earth-life. While yet ministering
to those who followed Him in the Holy Land, however, Jesus uttered a
strange declaration. He said, "I am the good shepherd, and know my
sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth {295} me, even so
know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one
shepherd."
[Sidenote: A puzzling question.]
From the time that Jesus made this statement until the restoration of
the Gospel in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, it has never
been fully understood by men. That Jesus is the Good Shepherd is clear
enough. He has earned the undisputed right to that title by the devoted
sacrifice He made for His sheep. But what did He mean by "other sheep"
not of the fold of Palestine, who must also hear His voice, that there
might be one fold, as there was one shepherd? Where else did Jesus
personally minister besides the Holy Land and Paradise? These questions
have puzzled many; and because of failure to find any other adequate
answer, the "other sheep" have been usually interpreted to mean, the
Gentiles. But how the Gospel came to the Gentiles has been pointed out.
They could not have been the "other sheep," who were to hear the voice
of Jesus. Who, then, were the "other sheep."
[Sidenote: Forty days.]
You will remember that after His resurrection Jesus appeared at ten
different times to His disciples in Palestine. It seems, however, that
between the resurrection and the ascension there elapsed a period of
about forty days. What did Jesus do during those forty days? Of course,
we cannot hope to be able ever to account for all those days, nor
would it help us much perhaps to do so. {296} But it was during that
interesting but shrouded period of forty days that Jesus visited the
other sheep.
[Sidenote: In the land of the Nephites.]
Far over the waters, in another and then unknown land, lived the
Nephites. They had been taught to look forward to the coming of the
Lord. When He was born a babe in Bethlehem, the star of promise shone
brilliantly in the land of the Nephites. For three days there was
light, and no darkness at all. Again, after thirty-three years, the
land of the Nephites became shrouded in darkness when the Lord was
crucified. The earth was shaken and torn asunder. Cities were sunk into
the sea, and places that had been sea were made dry land. Mountains
were levelled and valleys were upheaved. And countless numbers of the
wicked were destroyed. When the terrible convulsions and the darkness
had passed, there was a multitude of the people of Nephi assembled near
the temple in the land Bountiful. Suddenly, a voice spoke to them out
of heaven. It was the voice of God declaring, "Behold my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name: hear ye
Him." The people cast their eyes upward; and lo! they saw a man clothed
in a white robe descending out of heaven.
[Sidenote: The appearance of Jesus to the Nephites.]
It was Jesus. He came and stood in the midst of His people, the
Nephites; and He showed them the prints in His hands and in His feet,
and the wound in His side. Then He proceeded to teach them as He had
taught His disciples in Palestine, and to choose twelve apostles, and
to organize His church, so that the people might enjoy the privileges
of the priesthood and of a {297} holy worship. Jesus appeared to
these people more than once; and on one occasion, He said, "Ye are my
disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of
the house of Joseph. And behold, this is the land of your inheritance;
and the Father hath given it unto you. And not at any time hath the
Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at
Jerusalem; Neither at any time hath the Father given me commandment,
that I should tell unto them concerning the other tribes of the house
of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out of the land. This much did
the Father command me, that I should tell unto them. That other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. And
now because of stiffneckedness and unbelief, they understood not my
word: therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning
this thing unto them. But, verily, I say unto you, that the Father
hath commanded me, and I tell it unto you, that ye were separated from
among them because of their iniquity; therefore it is because of their
iniquity, that they know not of you. And verily, I say unto you again,
that the other tribes hath the Father separated from them; and it is
because of their iniquity, that they know not of them. And verily, I
say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said, other sheep I have which
are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."
In the unselfish ministry of Jesus Christ there is no one forgotten.
All the children of Israel are ministered {298} to; the dead hear the
voice of Jesus; and the Gentiles have the Gospel preached to them.
The Jewish Scriptures are united with the Nephite Scriptures in the
personal ministry of Jesus to His "other sheep."
[Sidenote: A promise to us.]
"I am in your midst," said Jesus to the Prophet Joseph Smith, "and I am
the good Shepherd, and the Stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this
rock shall never fall, and the day cometh that you shall hear my voice
and see me, and know that I am, watch, therefore, that ye may be ready."
THE REFERENCES
Matt. 10:5-7. Acts 10:1-48.
Matt. 13:23. Acts 13:44-49.
John 4:21-23. John 10:14-16.
Matt. 21:41-44. 3 Nephi 15:12-21.
Matt. 12:14-21. Doc. and Cov. 50:44-46.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What was the nature of the first commission to the twelve apostles?
2. What is the meaning of the parable of the leaven?
3. What did Jesus teach concerning the kingdom of God and the Gentiles?
4. What do we learn from the case of Cornelius?
5. What did Jesus say about "other sheep"?
6. What did the Nephites know about the coming of Jesus?
8. What promise has Jesus made to us?
7. What did Jesus tell the Nephites?
{299}
{300} PICTURE: COME UNTO ME ALL YE THAT LABOR, Bloch
{301}
XXXVIII
OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER
[Sidenote: The house-holder and the husbandmen.]
A parable Jesus related to the chief priests and elders of the
Jews while He was yet with them in the flesh: "There was a certain
householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about,
and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to
husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit
drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might
receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and
beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other
servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But,
last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my
son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves,
This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his
inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and
slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he
do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him. He will miserably destroy
those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen,
which shall render him the fruits in their seasons."
[Sidenote: God the great householder, Jesus the Son.]
Just so is it with the kingdom of God; for just as the wicked
husbandmen did with the servants and with the son of householder, so
did the stiff-necked children of Israel with the prophets, and with
the Son of God. {302} Therefore was the kingdom taken from them, as we
have already learned, and given to the Gentiles. And therefore will
the Great Householder miserably destroy the wicked who persecute His
servants, kill His prophets, and reject His Only Begotten Son. But
the righteous will He bless, and all those who serve Him; and even
though we should fall into error, yet need we not despair. For if we
repent, God will forgive our sins, so only we do not as did the wicked
husbandmen of the vineyard. "My little children," wrote the Beloved
John in a letter to the saints, "these things write I unto you, that ye
sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
[Sidenote: The exaltation of Jesus.]
It is, indeed, a joyful thought that, even though Jesus was slain by
the husbandmen. He was not and Mark assures us that when He ascended
into heaven, Jesus assumed the place of honor at the right hand of the
Father. "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them. He was received
up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God." There Stephen was
privileged to see Him in vision some time later. Stephen is described
as a man full of faith and power, who did great wonders and miracles
among the people. Stephen preached fearlessly to the Jews the fact
that Christ had risen. The Jews became enraged, and stoned him; but
before his death, Stephen, "being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up
steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, {303} and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." To Jesus
had come the deserved glory for which He had wrought. In His exaltation
was fulfilled literally the sayings He had taught to His disciples,
"Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." "Whosoever would be great among you, let him
be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be
your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."
[Sidenote: Our advocate with the Father.]
Now, it is perfectly plain that the great mission of Jesus was not
entirely finished during His sojourn upon the earth. That for which He
came was accomplished, it is true. But just as we needed a Savior--one
who would unselfishly lay down His own sinless life for the sins of
others--so we need even now, when that sacrifice has been made, a
mediator, an advocate, to intercede for us with the Father. For we are
all sinful at the best; weaknesses of various kinds beset us, and if we
were to be rewarded strictly according to our merits, many of us would
get but little in the way of blessing. Jesus continues then to be our
Redeemer, pleading our cause before the Father. "Wherefore He is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He
ever liveth to make intercession for them." So did Paul, the Apostle to
the Gentiles, express to the Hebrews his faith in the mediating power
of Jesus; and to the Romans he wrote, "Who is He that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is {304} risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Jesus
continues, then, His great redeeming labor, bringing salvation and
exaltation to those who accept Him and diligently seek Him.
[Sidenote: Many mansions in the Father's house.]
And He prepares a place also for His own, that they may be
appropriately received when they shall go to their eternal reward. One
day when Jesus was talking to the apostles about His coming sacrifice,
and the apostles were sorrowful because they thought that He intended
to go away, He said to them, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be
also." Even as He promised His disciples that He would prepare a place
for them, so is there a place prepared for each one of us. For in many
respects the future life will be ordered like the present. In this
life we are generally able to achieve such advancement as we work for.
If we honestly and conscientiously make the most of the opportunities
that lie about us; if we strive to make the most of what we have, never
hiding the God-given talent in the earth--we are bound to progress and
to succeed. But there are in the world many degrees of diligence, and
therefore many degrees of success. So will it be in the kingdom of God.
There, there are many mansions; and such a one will be prepared for us
as will satisfy fully the degree of diligence with {305} which we have
served. The risen Christ is not only our advocate with the Father, but
also our judge.
[Sidenote: Lord of lords and Kings of kings.]
To this judge all power is given. So declared Jesus Himself when He
appeared after His resurrection to the apostles and the five hundred
brethren who had assembled on a mountain in Galilee. "Jesus came and
spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth." Moreover, Jesus, to whom all power is given, is the sole
mediator between man and God. Said Paul to Timothy, his own son in
faith, "There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man
Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all." And in this exalted position
as Lord of lords, and King of kings, Jesus shall reign forever. "The
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His
Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever."
[Sidenote: Jesus to come again.]
You see, then, what a wonderful hope is prepared for those who serve
Jesus. This earth is to come to an end. It is to be purified and
sanctified; then there will appear a new earth as an abode for the
blessed. But before that time shall come Jesus, Himself, is to come
again to minister to His people upon the earth. When the apostles stood
gazing up into heaven, whither Jesus had ascended, there appeared
before them suddenly two men in white apparel. These men said, "Ye men
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which
is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen Him go into heaven." This truth Jesus Himself declared in
{306} the trial before the high priest. When the perjured witnesses
testified against Him, Jesus made no reply. Then, "the high priest
asked Him, and said unto Him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting
on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." When
this wonderful occurrence shall take place, no one knows; it has never
been revealed, but is known to the Father alone. But it appears that it
is to take place at a time when the earth is troubled, and the end is
not far off. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the
sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of
man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." If we
are to be worthy of the ministry of Jesus when He shall come again, we
must learn to know Him, and to live according to His teachings; for He
has declared that He will be ashamed at His coming of those who are
ashamed of Him. "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my
words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the
Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with
the holy angels."
[Sidenote: The nearness of Jesus.]
Even in His coming He will be our advocate and our judge. How close
then Jesus stands to us. He came into the world to enlighten the world,
that they might learn to know God and Jesus Christ {307} whom God sent;
He laid down His life as a voluntary sacrifice to redeem the world from
the original sin; now He sits at the right hand of God the Father and
intercedes for those who believe in Him; and ere long He shall come
again in clouds of glory, again to minister to men, that they may have
the better chance to gain eternal life. The love and anxious sympathy
of Jesus know no bounds.
"Listen to Him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading
your cause before Him, saying, Father, behold the sufferings and death
of Him who did no sin, in whom Thou wast well pleased; behold the
blood of the Son which was shed--the blood of Him whom Thou gavest
that Thyself might be glorified; wherefore, Father, spare these my
brethren that believe in my name, that they may come unto me and have
everlasting life."
THE REFERENCES
Matt. 21:33-41. 1 Tim. 2:5, 6.
1 John 2:1.2. Rev. 11:15.
Mark 16:19. John 14:1-3.
Acts 7:56. Acts 1:11.
Heb. 7:25. Mark 14:62.
Rev. 8:34. Matt. 24:29,30.
Mark 28:18. Mark 8:38.
Doc. and Cov. 45:3-5.
{308} THE QUESTIONS
1. Interpret the parable of the householder and the wicked husbandmen.
2. What is the position of Jesus in heaven?
3. In what sense is Jesus our advocate with the Father?
4. What did Jesus mean by many mansions in His Father's house?
5. What power is given to Jesus?
6. How do we know that Jesus is to come again?
7. What is to happen when Jesus comes again?
8. In what way may we sense the nearness of Jesus?
{309}
{310} PICTURE: THE ASCENSION, Biermann
{311}
XXXIX
THE LIVING CHRIST
[Sidenote: Jesus the living Christ.]
From what we have learned in the preceding lesson, it is plain that
Jesus, the son of Mary of Nazareth, is in truth the Living Christ.
Jesus was from before the beginning of this world, and will continue in
power and glory throughout the endless eternities. In the great council
in heaven, He volunteered to become the Christ and to save the children
of God without force. He fulfilled His noble but agony-filled mission
without faltering. He gave up His life with a prayer on His lips for
those who brutally persecuted Him and killed Him. He was approved of
the Father, and exalted to sit on the right hand of the throne of
power. He is worshipped by untold millions, to whom He has brought
consolation, hope, and love. And it is not only on the so-called common
people of the earth that Jesus has made so wonderful an impression that
He is worshipped as the very Son of God, but also over the greatest
intellects in the world has He wielded so powerful an influence
that they bow in admiring adoration. Poets, artists, philosophers,
scientists, and statesmen alike acknowledge Jesus, the Living Christ
and Advocate with the Father.
[Sidenote: The testimony of Napoleon.]
As we learned at the beginning of this book, Napoleon avowed his
admiration of Jesus, while living an exile on the island of St. Helena.
Napoleon's further testimony is interesting. "Superficial minds see a
resemblance," said {312} Napoleon, "between Christ and the founders
of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not
exist. There is between Christianity and other religions the distance
of infinity. Everything in Christ astonishes me. Here I see nothing
human. The nearer I approach everything is above me. Alexander, Caesar,
Charlemagne and myself founded empires. But on what did we rest the
creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded His
empire upon love, and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.
Christ proved that He was the Son of the Eternal."
[Sidenote: The conviction of an English philosopher.]
Other great men, too, have been as profoundly impressed by the divinity
of Jesus as was Napoleon. The great English philosopher, John Locke,
expressed his convictions in these words: "Before our Savior's time,
the doctrine of a future state, though it were not wholly hid, yet it
was not clearly known in the world? He brought life and immortality to
light. And that not only in the clear revelation of it and in instances
shown of men raised from the dead; but He has given an unquestionable
assurance and pledge of it, in His own resurrection and ascension
into heaven. How has this one truth changed the nature of things?
The philosophers, indeed show the beauty of nature, but leaving her
unendowed, very few are willing to espouse her. It has another relish
and efficiency to persuade men that if they live well here, they shall
be happy hereafter. Upon this foundation, and upon this only, morality
stands firm; and this is the gospel Jesus Christ has delivered to us."
{313} [Sidenote: Declarations of Emerson and Webster.]
Two notable Americans may be here cited also to show the influence of
the work of Jesus upon men of great intellect. Ralph Waldo Emerson,
philosopher and poet, wrote, "Jesus is the most perfect of all men that
have yet appeared. The unique impressions of Jesus upon mankind are not
so much written as ploughed into the history of this world. He saw with
open eye the mystery of the soul. Alone in all history, He estimated
the greatness of man." And Daniel Webster declared in his argument in
the Girard Will Case, "I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. The
miracles which He wrought establish in my mind His personal authority
and render it proper for me to believe what He asserts."
[Sidenote: Additional testimony.]
Testimonies of this kind might be added upon without limit. Of course,
there may be found also many men who reject the testimony of Jesus.
But the interesting fact about the influence of Jesus is that the
farther we become removed from the time of His earth-ministry, the more
strongly is His influence felt, and the closer does the world really
come to Him. In spite of the war that Satan has waged in the world
against Him, Jesus is dearer to men today than He has ever been before.
Even the great world war now raging is turning the hearts of men to
Jesus; and many more men of learning and leadership are expressing
their faith in the teachings of Jesus the Christ. It is to be hoped
that all men will soon come to the conviction of the great German
philosopher, Kant: "In the life and the divine doctrine of Christ,
example and precept conspire to call men to the regular discharge of
every moral duty for its own {314} sake. Christ is the founder of
the first true Church; that is, that Church which exhibits the moral
kingdom of God upon earth."
[Sidenote: Reasons for strong testimonies in the Church.]