I.
JESUS CHRIST: THE REVELATION OF GOD.[A]
[Footnote A: A discourse delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Utah,
Tuesday evening, April 22, 1902, under the auspices of the Young Men's
Mutual Improvement Association of the Weber Stake of Zion.]
_And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (St. John's Gospel 17:3)._
_And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that it true, and we are in him
that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and
eternal life (I John 5:20)._
It will be taken for granted, I have no doubt, that the primary object
in the earth-mission of the Lord Jesus Christ was to redeem mankind,
to be the Savior of the world. We have the warrant of scripture for
that. It is shadowed forth in the words that God spoke in Eden to the
"Serpent," and having in mind the Lord Jesus:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel.[A]
[Footnote A: Gen. 3: 15.]
Turning to the New Testament, we read:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
[A]
[Footnote A: St. John 3:16, 17.]
I say to be the Savior of the world was the primary purpose of Christ's
mission. But there is another purpose spoken of in scripture concerning
the mission of the Lord Jesus. To one of the old prophets in Israel it
was said: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son; and shall
'call his name Immanuel."[A]--"which," says Matthew in his Gospel,
"being interpreted, is God with us."[B]
[Footnote A: Isaiah 7:14.]
[Footnote B: Matt. 3:23.]
In connection with this there is one more scripture to which I desire
to call your attention:
Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.[A]
[Footnote A: I Tim. 3:16.]
That this passage has direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ no one
can doubt; for to none but to him does the language apply. Here let me
say with reference to the Bible statement that Christ was God "manifest
in the flesh," that some scholars hold that the Greek word translated
"manifest," in our English Bible, should be rendered "manifested," a
stronger word; so that Jesus Christ, if this rendering of the Greek be
true, according to the teachings of Paul, was God "manifested" in the
flesh.
With this brief scriptural introduction to the subject, and with the
statement clearly before you that Jesus Christ is God, and, moreover,
is God manifested in the flesh, I desire to call your attention to the
ideas prevailing in the world respecting Deity at the time of Messiah's
advent among men; and this to show you there certainly was a very great
necessity for a revelation of God being given; for men knew him not;
nor had they by searching been able to find him out. Men were without
the knowledge of God, when it pleased God to reveal himself to them
through his only begotten Son, Jesus, the Christ.
Beliefs in India and Egypt.
I first direct your attention to India and Egypt. In these two
countries what is commonly called Pantheism prevailed. Now, I know that
word represents complex rather than simple ideas to you, and needs a
little explanation. Pantheism, speaking in a general way, is of two
kinds: First, the Pantheism that sinks all nature into one substance,
one essence, and then concludes that that one substance or essence is
God. Such Pantheism as this is the purest Monism--that is, the one
substance theory; and is spoken of by some of our philosophers as the
purest Theism--that is, faith in one God. Indeed, Pantheism, in this
aspect of it, is looked upon as a sort of exaggerated Theism; for it
regards "God" as the only substance, of which the material universe and
man are but ever-changing manifestations. It is the form of Pantheism
which identifies mind and matter, the finite and infinite, making them
but manifestations of one universal being; but in effect it denies
the personality, by which I mean the individuality, of God. This was,
and, for matter of that, is now, the general belief of many millions
in India. The Pantheism which expands the one substance into all
the variety of objects that we see in nature, is the second kind of
Pantheism referred to a moment since, and regards those various parts
as God, or God expanded into nature. This leads to the grossest kind of
idolatry, as it did in Egypt, at the time of which I am speaking. Under
this form of Pantheism men worshiped various objects in nature; the
sun, moon, stars; in fact, anything and everything that bodied forth to
their minds, some quality, or power, or attribute of the Deity. This
was the Pantheism of Egypt, and led to the abominable and disgusting
idolatry of that land.
The Religion of China.
Turn your attention now northward from India, and take into account
those great masses of our race inhabiting China; and you will find
there, according to the statement of Max Muller,
A colorless and unpoetical religion; a religion we might almost
venture to call monosyllabic, consisting of the worship of a host
of single spirits, representing the sky; the sun, storms and
lightning, mountains and rivers; one standing by the side of the
other without any mutual attraction, without any higher principle
to hold them together. In addition to this we likewise meet in
China with the worship of ancestral spirits, the spirits of the
departed, who are supposed to retain some cognizance of human
affairs, and to possess peculiar powers which they exercise for
good or evil. This double worship of human and natural spirits
constitutes the old and popular religion of China, and it has
lived on to the present day, at least in the lower ranks of
society, though there towers above it a more elevated range of half
religious and half philosophical faith, a belief in two higher
Powers, which, in the language of philosophy, may mean Form and
Matter, in the language of ethics, Good and Evil, but which in the
original language of religion and mythology are represented as
Heaven and Earth.[A]
[Footnote A: Science of Religion (Muller) pp. 61, 62.]
Such was the ancient religion of China; and such, to a very large
extent, is the religion of China to this day. It must be remembered
that the great Chinese philosopher Confucius did not disturb this
ancient religious belief. He did not, in fact, profess to be a teacher
of religion at all, but was content if he could but influence men to
properly observe human relations. On one occasion he was asked how the
"spirits could be served," to which he made answer, "If we are not
able to serve men, how can we serve the spirits?" On another occasion
he said to his followers, "Respect the gods, and keep them at a
distance."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid p. 87.]
Religion in Northern Europe.
Let us now enter Northern Europe, among the Germanic tribes, and make
inquiry as to what conceptions of God they held. Here you find a
shadowy, undefined, and not well understood belief in the existence of
an all-pervading influence, or spirit; a Supreme Being, to whom the
Goths, at least, gave the name of "Alfader," meaning the Father of
all; yet, strange to say, they paid him no divine honors, gave him no
worship, but contented themselves in worshiping inferior deities, their
old war heroes in the main, whom they had apotheosized and who, it must
be acknowledged, represented the national qualities of that people at
that time.
Gods of the Greeks and Romans.
Having thus briefly mentioned the faith of the people of north
Europe--and I can do no more than this in each instance--I next invite
your attention to the ideas about God that obtained among the highly
civilized Romans. And, by the way, the Romans accepted, for the most
part, the mythology and the religion of the Greeks, so that when we
consider the ideas that prevailed among the Romans about God, it must
be remembered that we are at the same time considering the views of God
that were entertained by the Greeks--a people noted for the subtlety of
their intellect, for their powers both of analysis and of synthesis:
and for intuition of intellect which made them well nigh prophets, at
least of an intellectual, if not of a spiritual order. The Romans for
the most part were divided into the two great schools of philosophy,
the Epicurean and the Stoic. Some of our young students will be telling
me perhaps that I have overlooked the Academics. I do not mention them
as a school of philosophy for the reason that, in my judgment, they
had no philosophy; they advocated nothing; they were the agnostics of
their time--that is, they were people who did not know, and like our
modern agnostics, had a strong suspicion that nobody else knew. They
represented merely the negative attitude of mind in their times. Still
they numbered in their following some of the most considerable men of
Rome, Cicero being among the number. By the way, it is through the
writings of Cicero--especially through his Tusculan Disputations--that
we become best acquainted with the theories of the two chief schools
of philosophy I have mentioned. And it is from his writings that I
shall here condense what I have to say of the creeds of these schools
of philosophy, or at least that part which concerns us here--the part
relating to their conceptions of Deity, and first as to the Doctrine of
Epicurus.
Epicureans.
The Epicureans held that there were Gods in existence. They accepted
the fact of their existence from the constant and universal opinion of
mankind, independent of education, custom or law. "It must necessarily
follow," they said, "that this knowledge is implanted in our minds, or,
rather, innate in us." Their doctrine was: "That opinion respecting
which there is a general agreement in universal nature must infallibly
be true; therefore it must be allowed that there are Gods."
"Of the form of the Gods, they held that because the human body is
more excellent than that of other animals, both in beauty and for
convenience, therefore the Gods are in human form. All men are told by
nature that none but the human form can be ascribed to the Gods; for
under what other image did it ever appear to anyone either sleeping or
waking?" Ye these forms of the Gods were not "body," but "something
like body;" "nor do they contain blood, but something like blood." "Nor
are they to be considered as bodies of any solidity, or reducible to
number." "Nor is the nature or power of the Gods to be discerned by
the senses, but by the mind." They held, moreover, that the universe
arose from chance; that the Gods neither did nor could extend their
providential care to human affairs.
The duty of worshiping the Gods was based upon the fact of their
superiority to man. "The superior and excellent nature of the Gods
requires a pious adoration from men, because it is possessed of
immortality, and the most exalted felicity; for whatever excels has a
right to veneration." Yet "all fear of the power and anger of the Gods
should be banished; for we must understand that anger and affection
are inconsistent with the nature of a happy and immortal being. These
apprehensions being removed, no dread of the superior power remains."
On the same principles that the existence of the Gods was allowed, that
is, on the pre-notion and universal belief of their existence, it was
held that the Gods were happy and immortal, to which the Epicurians
added this doctrine: "That which is eternally happy cannot be burdened
with any labor itself, nor can it impose any labor on another; nor
can it be influenced by resentment or favor; because things which are
liable to such feelings must be weak and frail."
It was generally held by the opponents of Epicurus that, as a matter of
fact, he did not believe in the existence of the Gods at all; but dared
not deny their existence for fear of the Athenian law against impiety,
and because such denial would render him unpopular. But after becoming
acquainted with his views as to the nature of the Gods, one is prepared
to accept the criticism of his doctrines which Cicero puts in the mouth
of Cotta, in his Tusculan Disputations, viz., "Epicurus has allowed
a deity in words but destroyed him in fact." He rendered his Gods as
intangible, as useless, as far removed from exciting adoration, or of
controlling the universe, as have the orthodox Christian sects their
Deity, who is said to be without body, or parts, or passions; which,
if such be his nature, leaves him without quality through which he may
affect humanity or the universe either for good or evil.
The Stoics.
I next take up the school of Stoics. The Stoics believed (1) that there
were Gods; (2) they undertook to define their character and nature;
(3) they held that the universe is governed by them, and (4) that they
exercise a superintendency over human affairs.
The evidence for the existence of the Gods they saw primarily in the
universe itself. "What can be so plain and evident," they argued, "when
we behold the heavens, and contemplate the celestial bodies, as the
existence of some supreme, divine intelligence by which these things
are governed?" "Were it otherwise," they added, "Ennius would not with
universal approbation have said,
Look up to the refulgent heavens above
which all men call unanimously Jove--
* * * Of Gods and men the sire.
Of the nature of the Deity they held two things: First of all, that
he is an animated though impersonal being; secondly, that there is
nothing in all nature superior to him. "I do not see," says one well
versed in their doctrines, "what can be more consistent with this
idea and pre-conception than to attribute a mind and divinity to the
world, the most excellent of all beings." The God of the Stoics is
further described as a corporeal being, united to matter by a necessary
connection; and, moreover, as subject to fate, so that he can bestow
neither rewards nor punishments. That this sect held to the extinction
of the soul at death, is allowed by all the learned. The Stoics drew
their philosophy mainly from Socrates and Aristotle. Their cosmology
was pantheistic, matter and force being the two ultimate principles,
and God being the working force of the universe, giving it unity,
beauty and adaptation.
The Jews.
I shall finish this brief review of the prevailing ideas about Deity at
the advent of Messiah by reference to the state of belief respecting
God among the Jews at this period. I have reserved the consideration
of their views upon the subject until the last advisedly, chiefly for
the reason that to their ancestors, in very ancient times, a knowledge
of the true God was revealed. Their ancestors constituted a nation, a
people, peculiarly related to God; chosen by him, it would seem, to
stand as his witnesses among the nations of the earth. But at the time
of the advent of Jesus Christ, the Jews were in an apostate condition,
and ready to reject their God when he should come. Moreover, their
leading teachers, especially in the two centuries preceding the coming
of the Messiah, were taking every step that their ingenuity could
devise for harmonizing the truths which God had made known to them with
the more fashionable conceptions of God as entertained by one or the
other of the great sects of philosophy among the Romans. The way had
been prepared for the achievement of this end, in the first place, by
the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek language, which
version of the Old Testament is usually called the Septuagint, or the
LXX. This latter name is given to it because of a tradition that the
translation was accomplished by seventy, or about seventy, elders of
the Jews. The most generally accepted theory concerning it, however,
is that it was a work accomplished at various times between 280 B. C.
and 150 B. C. The books of Moses being first translated as early as
the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 284-246 B. C, while the Prophets and
Psalms were translated somewhat later. It is not, however, the time or
manner in which the translation was accomplished that we are interested
in, but the character of the translation itself; and of this, Alfred
Edersheim, in his "Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah," in the
division of his work which treats of the preparation for the Gospel,
says of the Septuagint:
Putting aside clerical mistakes and misreadings, and making
allowance for errors of translation, ignorance, and haste, we note
certain outstanding facts as characteristic of the Greek version.
It bears evident marks of its origin in Egypt, in its use of
Egyptian words and references, and equally evident traces of its
Jewish composition. By the side of slavish and false literalism
there is great liberty, if not license, in handling the original;
gross mistakes occur along with happy renderings of very difficult
passages, suggesting the aid of some able scholars. Distinct
Jewish elements are undeniably there, which can only be explained
by reference to Jewish tradition, although they are much fewer
than some critics have supposed. This we can easily understand,
since only those traditions would find a place which at the early
time were not only received, but in general circulation. The
distinctly Grecian elements, however, are at present of chief
interest to us. _They consist of allusions to Greek mythological
terms, and adaptations of Greek philosophical ideas_. However few,
even one well-authenticated instance would lead us to suspect
others, and in general give to the version the character of Jewish
Hellenising. In the same class we reckon what constitutes the
prominent characteristics of the LXX version, which, for want of
better terms, we would designate as rationalistic and apologetic.
Difficulties--or what seemed such--are removed by the most bold
methods, and by free handling of the text; it need scarcely be
said, often very unsatisfactorily. More especially, a strenuous
effort is made to banish all anthropomorphisms, as inconsistent
with their ideas of the Deity.[A]
[Footnote A: "Jesus, the Messiah," by Edersheim,vol. I, pp. 27-8,
eighth edition.
Later the same authority points out the fact that the Septuagint
version of the Hebrew scriptures became really the people's Bible to
that large Jewish world through which Christianity was afterwards to
address itself to mankind. "It was part of the case," he adds, "that
this translation should be regarded by the Hellenists as inspired like
the original. Otherwise it would have been impossible to make final
appeal to the very words of the Greek; still less to find in them a
mystical and allegorical meaning."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid, p. 29.]
The foundation thus laid for a superstructure of false philosophy
there was not wanting builders who were anxious to place a pagan
structure upon it. About the middle of the second century B. C., one
Aristobulus, a Hellenist Jew of Alexandria, sought to so explain the
Hebrew scriptures as "to bring the Peripatetic philosophy out of the
law of Moses, and out of the other Prophets." Following is a sample,
according to Edersheim, of his allegorizing: "Thus, when we read that
God stood, it meant the stable order of the world; that he created the
world in six days, the orderly succession of time; the rest of the
Sabbath, the preservation of what was created. And in such manner could
the whole system of Aristotle be found in the Bible. But how was this
to be accounted for? Of course, the Bible had not learned of Aristotle,
but he and all other philosophers had learned from the Bible. Thus,
according to Aristobulus, Pythagoras, Plato, and all the other sages,
had really learned from Moses, and the broken rays found in their
writings were united in all their glory in the Torah."[A]
[Footnote A: "Jesus, the Messiah," Edersheim, vol. 1, p. 36.]
Following Aristobulus in the same kind of philosophy was Philo, the
learned Jew of Alexandria, born about the year 20 B. C. He was supposed
to be a descendant of Aaron, and belonged to one of the wealthiest
and most influential families among the merchants of Egypt; and he
is said to have united a large share of Greek learning with Jewish
enthusiasm. He followed most worthily in the footsteps of Aristobulus.
According to him, the Greek sages had learned their philosophy from
Moses, in whom alone was all truth to be found. "Not indeed, in the
letter," says Edersheim, "but _under_ the letter of Holy Scripture. If
in Numbers 23:19 we read 'God is not a man,' and in Deut. 1:31 that the
Lord was 'as a man,' did it not imply on the one hand the revelation
of absolute truth by God, and on the other, accommodation to those who
were weak? Here then, was the principle of a two-fold interpretation
of the Word of God--the literal and the allegorical. * * * To begin
with the former: the literal sense must be wholly set aside, when it
implies anything unworthy of the Deity--anything unmeaning, impossible,
or contrary to reason. Manifestly this canon, if strictly applied,
would do away not only with all anthropomorphisms, but cut the knot
wherever difficulties seemed insuperable. Again, Philo would find an
allegorical, along with the literal, interpretation indicated in the
reduplication of a word, and in seemingly superfluous words, particles,
or expressions. These could, of course, only bear such a meaning
on Philo's assumption of the actual inspiration of the Septuagint
version."[A]
[Footnote A: When one thinks of the mischief that may arise from such
perversions of scripture by the application of Philo's principles of
interpretation, we do not marvel that some of the Jews regarded the
translation of the Seventy "to have been as great a calamity to Israel
as the making of the golden calf."]
Edersheim admits, however, that in the Talmudic canon, the
interpretation where "any repetition of what had been already stated,
would point to something new;" and holds that these are comparatively
sober rules of exegesis. "Not so the license," he remarks, "which he
[Philo] claimed, of freely altering the punctuation of sentences, and
his notion that, if one from among several synonymous words was chosen
in a passage, this pointed to some special meaning attaching to it.
Even more extravagant was the idea that a word which occurred in the
Septuagint might be interpreted according to every shade of meaning
which it bore in the Greek, and that even another meaning might be
given it by slightly altering the letters." Of Philo's further efforts
at harmonizing the revelations of God to the Jews with the teachings of
the Greeks, it will only be necessary to read the following quotation
from an authority upon such subjects:
Philo's doctrine starts from the idea that God is "being"
absolutely bare of all quality. All quality in finite beings has
limitation, and no limitation can be predicated of God, who is
eternal, unchangeable, simple substance, free, self-sufficient.
To predicate any quality of God would be to reduce him to the
sphere of finite existence. Of him we can only say _that_ he is,
not _what_ he is, and such purely negative predictions as to his
being appear to Philo * * * the only way of securing his absolute
elevation above the world [that is, above and outside of the
material universe]. A consistent application of Philo's abstract
conception of God would exclude the possibility of any active
relation of God to the world, and therefore of religion; for a
being absolutely without quality and movement cannot be conceived
as actively concerned with the multiplicity of individual things.
And so, in fact, Philo does teach that the absolute perfection,
purity and loftiness of God would be violated by direct contact
with imperfect, impure, and finite things. But the possibility
of a connection between God and the world is reached through a
distinction which forms the most important point in his theology
and cosmology. The proper being of God is distinguished from the
infinite multiplicity of divine ideas or forces: God himself is
without quality, but he disposes of an infinite variety of divine
forces, through _whose_ mediation an active relation of God to
the world is brought about. In the details of his teaching as to
these mediating entities, Philo is guided partly by Plato and
partly by the Stoics; but at the same time he makes use of the
concrete religious conceptions of heathenism and Judaism. Following
Plato, he first calls them "Ideas," or patterns of all things;
they are thoughts of God, yet possess a real existence, and were
produced before the creation of the sensible world, of which they
are the keys. * * * Philo maintains that the divine forces are
identical with the "demons" of the Greeks and the "angels" of the
Jews, i. e., servants and messengers of God, by means of which
he communicates with the finite world. * * * Philo regards all
individual "ideas" as comprehended in one highest and most general
"idea" or force--the unity of the individual idea--which he calls
the "logos" or "reason" of God, and which is again regarded as
operative "reason." The logos, therefore, is the highest mediator
between God and man, the world, the first-born son of God, the
archangel, who is the vehicle of all revelation, and the high
priest who stands before God on behalf of the world. Through whom
the world was created.[A]
[Footnote A: Professor E. Schurer, of University of Giessen, art.
_Philo_ in Encyclo. Brit.]
In all this one may see only too plainly the effort to harmonize Jewish
theology with Greek philosophy--an effort to be rid of the plain
anthropomorphism of the Hebrew scriptures for the incomprehensible
"being" of Greek metaphysics.
Thus the Jews--the people who had been chosen to be witnesses for
God to the world--appeared to have grown weary of the mission given
to them. Tired were they of standing in a position where their hands
seemed to be raised against all men, and all men's hands against them.
They had lost the spirit that had supported their fathers, and hence
were searching out these cowardly compromises by which harmony could
be shown to exist between the philosophy of the Gentiles and the
revelations of God to their fathers.
God Revealed to the World in the Person of Jesus Christ.
This completes the survey I intended to make of this field. 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 corollary
naturally follows, viz, not to know God is _not_ to possess eternal
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, its 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.[A]
[Footnote A: This synopsis of the Christ's life is in Acts 2.]
Mark you, in all this there is not a word about the mysterious,
ineffable generation of the Son of God from the Father, together with
all the mysteries that men have gathered together in their learned
disquisitions about God. No question is raised as to whether Jesus
was made out of nothing or begotten by ineffable generation from the
substance of the Father. Whether he is consubstantial, that is, of the
_same_ substance with the Father, or only of a _similar_ substance. Nor
is there any question raised as to whether Jesus was "begotten" before
or after time began. All these and a hundred other questions arose
after the Christian doctrine of Deity began to come in contact with the
Greek and other philosophies. Jesus accepted the existence of God as a
settled fact, and proclaimed himself to be the Son of God: offending
the Jews, by so doing, for they saw that he made himself equal with
God;[A] and being a man, held forth himself to be God.[B] Slow indeed
were they to learn the great truth plainly revealed in Jesus Christ,
_that God is a perfect man_. Such was Jesus Christ, and he was God
manifested in the flesh. "Was," did I say? Nay, "_is_," I should have
said; and such will he remain forever; a spirit he is, clothed with
an immortal body, a resurrected body of tangible flesh and bones made
eternal, and now dwelling in heaven with his Father, of whom he is
the express image and likeness; as well now as when he was on earth;
and hence the Father also must be a personage of flesh and bones, as
tangible as the exalted man, Christ Jesus the Lord.
[Footnote A: John 5:18.]
[Footnote B: John 10:30-33.]
II.
EVIDENCE OF CHRIST'S DIVINITY FROM THE SCRIPTURE.
It is my desire on this occasion to place in the hands of the Elders of
Israel such tangible proofs from the Scriptures concerning Jesus Christ
being "God manifested in the flesh," that they will be able hereafter
to maintain the doctrine taught upon this subject by the Church; it is
my desire to cite you evidence from which our young men may maintain
the doctrine that God is an exalted man. For be it known unto you, that
plain and from the scriptures indisputable as this doctrine of ours is,
there are those who scorn it, who call it blasphemy, and who roundly
denounce the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for teaching
it.
I call your attention then, first of all, to the fact that
Jesus Christ is Called God in the Scriptures.
The first proof I offer for this statement is from the writings of
Isaiah. You remember perhaps my former quotation from Isaiah, wherein
that prophet says, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel",[A] the interpretation of which name is,
according to Matthew, "God with us".[B] So that this man-child, born
of a woman, and called "Immanuel," is God; and, moreover, is "God with
us"--that is, with men. The same prophet also says:
[Footnote A: Isaiah 7:14.]
[Footnote B: Matt. 1:23.]
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the
government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, _The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the
Prince of Peace_.[A]
[Footnote A: Isaiah 9:6.]
All concede that this is in plain allusion to Jesus Christ, and the
scriptures here directly call Him _The Mighty God_. He is also called
God in the testimony of John. Mark this language, for it is a passage
around which many ideas center, and to which we shall have occasion to
refer several times. In the preface to his Gospel, John says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, _and the
Word was God_. The same was in the beginning with 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.
There can be no question but direct reference is here made to the Lord
Jesus Christ, as being the "Word;" and the "Word," or Jesus being with
the Father in the beginning, and the "Word," or Jesus Christ, also
being God. The "Word," then, as used here by John, is one of the titles
of Jesus in his pre-existent estate. Why called the "Word" I know not,
unless it is that by a "word" we make an expression; and since Jesus
Christ was to be the expression of God, the revelation of God to the
children of men, he was for that reason called the "Word."[A]
[Footnote A: Since the delivery of the above discourse I note the
following in a revelation to Joseph Smith: "In the beginning the Word
was, for he [Christ] was the Word, even the _Messenger of Salvation_."
(Doc. and Cov. Sec. 93.) That is, it appears that Messiah was
called the "Word" because He was the "Messenger"--"the Messenger of
Salvation."]
Jesus Declares Himself to be God--the Son of God:
Jesus was crucified on the charge that he was an impostor--that he,
being a man, said that "God was his Father, making himself equal with
God" (John 5:18).
And again: "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and
because that thou being a man, makest thyself God" (John 10:33).
Again: when accused before Pilate, who declared he could "find no fault
in him," the Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by our law he ought
to die, because he made himself the Son of God." Moreover, the high
priest, in the course of his trial before the Sanhedrim of the Jews,
directly said to Jesus, "I adjure thee by the living God, that thou
tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said unto
him, Thou hast said: nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye
see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in
the clouds of heaven" (Matt 27:63, 64).
And finally, when Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples after his
resurrection, he said unto them, "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" (Matt.
28:18, 19). A clearer proclamation of his divinity could not be made
than in the statement, "all power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth," especially when it is followed by placing himself on equal
footing with the Father and the Holy Ghost, which he does when he
commands his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Nothing can be added to this, except it be
the words of God the Father directly addressed to Jesus, when he says,
"Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" (Heb. 1:8).
Jesus Christ to be Worshiped, hence God.
Jesus Christ is to be worshiped by men and angels; and worship is an
honor to be paid only to true Deity. The angels of heaven refuse the
adoration we call worship. You remember when the Apostle John was on
the isle of Patmos, and God sent a heavenly messenger to him, how
the Apostle overawed by the brightness of his glory fell upon his
face to worship him, and the angel said: "See thou do it not: for I
am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them
which keep the sayings of this book: Worship God."[A] So you see the
angels refuse divine honors. But the scriptures prove that Jesus was
especially to be worshiped; hence he must be Deity:
[Footnote A: Rev. 19:10.]
For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my
son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a
Father, and he shall be to me a Son. And again, when he bringeth in
the First Begotten into the world, he saith, let all the angels of
God worship him.[A]
[Footnote A: Heb. 1:5, 6.]
The same doctrine is taught in the epistle to the Philippians:
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[A]
[Footnote A: Phil. 2:9, 10.]
There are other passages to the same effect, but it is perhaps
unnecessary for me to turn to each of these since the ones here quoted
will be sufficient to establish in your minds the fact contended for.
Jesus Christ is the Creator, hence God.
Jesus Christ is the Creator. Evidence of this is found in the testimony
of John from which I have already quoted.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was
made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.[A]
[Footnote A: John 1:1-4.]
Again in the epistle to the Colossians:
The Father * * * hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and
hath translated us into the kingdom of heaven * * who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for
him.[A]
[Footnote A: Col. 1:12-17.]
Again in Hebrews:
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto
the fathers--by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us
by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds.
Now we begin to see the relation of the Father and the Son; for though
the "Word" be God, though "Immanuel" is God, that is, "God with us," He
does not displace God the Father, but stands in the relationship of a
son to him. Under the direction of the Father, he created worlds, and
in this manner is the Creator of our earth, and the heavens connected
with the earth. And everywhere the scriptures command that men should
worship the Creator. In fact the burden of the cry of that angel who is
to restore the gospel in the hour of God's judgment is,
Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is
come: and worship him that made heaven and earth and the seas and
the fountains of waters.[A]
[Footnote A: Rev. 14:7.]
Jesus Christ equal with God the Father, hence God.
After the resurrection, Jesus appeared unto his disciples, and said to
them, as recorded in the closing chapter of Matthew:
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; teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.[A]
[Footnote A: Matt. 28:18, 19.]
Observe that the Lord Jesus Christ is placed upon a footing of equal
dignity with God the Father, and with the Holy Ghost. This brings to
mind the scripture of Paul, where he says, speaking of Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be _equal_
with God.[A]
[Footnote A: Phil. 2:6.]
So also is Christ given equal station with the Father and with the Holy
Ghost in the apostolic benediction over and over again.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the
communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.
In these several passages we have Jesus Christ, after his resurrection,
asserting that all power had been given unto him, both in heaven and
in earth; he is placed upon a footing of equal dignity with God the
Father in the holy Trinity--in the Grand Triumvirate which constitutes
the Presiding Council or Godhead reigning over our heavens and our
earth--hence God.
I now wish to give you the proof that Jesus Christ is the express
image of the Father; the express image of his person, as well as the
revelation of the attributes of God. Following that language in Hebrews
where Jesus is spoken of as having created worlds under the direction
of the Father, it is said:
Who being the brightness of his [the Father's] glory, _and the
express image of his person_, and upholding all things by the word
of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at
the right hand of the Majesty on high.[A]
[Footnote A: Heb. 3:3.]
So Paul to the Corinthians:
The God of this world hath blinded the minds of those which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, _who is the
image of God_, should shine unto them.[A]
[Footnote A: II Cor. 4:4.]
So also, in his letter to the Colossians, when speaking of Christ Paul
says:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every
creature.[A]
[Footnote A: Col. 1:5.]
Being "the express image of his person," then the "image of the
invisible God," Jesus becomes a revelation of the person of God to
the children of men, as well as a revelation of his character and
attributes. Again, you have the scriptures saying:
For it pleased the Father that in him [Christ Jesus] should all
fullness dwell. * * * For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.[A]
[Footnote A: Col. 1:19, 2:9.]
All there is, then, in God, there is in Jesus Christ. All that Jesus
Christ is, God is, And Jesus Christ is an immortal man of flesh and
bone and spirit, and with his Father and the Holy Spirit will reign
eternally in the heavens.
III.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD REVEALED IN THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST.
Having proved from the scriptures that Jesus Christ is God, and the
revelation of God to man, I come to another branch of my subject. I now
wish to show you that Jesus Christ manifested God also in his life; and
although I have been addressing you for some time, I am quite sure you
yourselves would not be entirely satisfied with the treatise upon this
subject, unless I pointed out how God would act under the variety of
circumstances in which it is our privilege to behold him placed.
The Humility of God.
First of all, I call your attention to the deep, the profound humility
of God; his great condescension in living among men, as he did, for our
instruction; and from that circumstance would draw to your attention
the lesson of humility his life teaches. The heights of glory to
which Jesus had attained, the power and dignity of his position in
the heavenly kingdom, of course, cannot be comprehended by us in our
present finite condition, and with our limited knowledge of things.
Great and exalted as we might think him to be, you may depend upon it
he was exalted infinitely higher than that. Then when you think of one
living and moving in the courts of heaven and mingling in the councils
of the Gods, consenting to come down to this earth and pass through
the conditions that Jesus passed through, do you not marvel at his
humility? To be born under such circumstances as would enable wicked
man to cast reflection upon his very birth![A] To be born, too, in a
stable, and to be cradled in a manger! To grow up a peasant, with a
peasant's labor to perform, and a peasant's fare to subsist upon from
childhood to manhood--do you not marvel at this great humility, at this
great condescension of God? And by his humility, are not men taught
humility, as they are taught it by no other circumstance whatsoever!
[Footnote A: St. John 8:41.]
The Obedience of God.
Of his youth, we know but little; but the little we know reveals a
shining quality, either for God or man to possess. You must remember,
in all our consideration of the life of Messiah, one truth, which comes
to us from the scriptures in an incidental way, viz., that "In his
humiliation his judgment was taken from him."[A] As the veil is drawn
over our minds when our pre-existent spirits come into this world, and
we forget the Father and mother of the spirit world, and the positions
we occupied there, so, too, with Jesus; in his humiliation his judgment
was taken from him; he knew not at first whence he came, nor the
dignity of his station in heaven. It was only by degrees that he felt
the Spirit working within him and gradually unfolding the sublime idea
that he was peculiarly and pre-eminently the Son of God in very deed.
When at Jerusalem, about twelve years of age, he began to be conscious
of the suggestions of the Spirit within him, and hence allowed the
caravan with which he had come from distant Galilee to Judea to start
upon the return journey without him, much to the perplexity and sorrow
of his supposed father, Joseph, and his mother Mary. They missing him,
returned and found him in the temple disputing with the doctors and
lawyers. They reprimanded him, as they would reprimand any boy guilty
of similar conduct; but when they reproved him, he answered, "Wist ye
not that I must be about my Father's business." He began to understand
his mission. The spirit promptings were at work in his soul. And while
ultimately the spirit was given without measure unto him,[B] it was
not so at first, for "He received not of the fullness at the first,
but received grace for grace."[C] The child Jesus "grew, and waxed
strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon
him. * * * And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with
God and man."[D] But notwithstanding Jesus, at twelve years of age,
and earlier, began to experience the operations of the Spirit calling
his soul to his mission, still we are told that he returned with his
parents to Galilee, "and was subject unto them." He who had given the
law, "Honor thy father and thy mother," in this act exemplified the
honor that he entertained for that law, in his practice of it.
[Footnote A: Acts 8:33.]
[Footnote B: St. John 3:34.]
[Footnote C: Doc. and Cov., Sec. 93:12, 13]
[Footnote D: Luke 2:40, 52.]
We next see him coming to the banks of Jordan, where a prophet of God
is baptizing--one of those strange, eccentric men, who lived for the
most part in the wilderness, whose food was locusts and wild honey,
and whose clothing was the skins of wild animals; and yet through
all this eccentricity, through all this oddness of character, shone
the divine powers of God in this messenger, and multitudes of people
gathered to his preaching by the Jordan, where he baptized them for the
remission of their sins. By and by, Jesus comes and demands baptism at
this man's hands; and as he enters the water, the prophet stays him,
and says, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"
Already, doubtless, shining, through this "expression of God,"--this
Jesus of Nazareth,--the servant of the Lord, in attune, through the
spirit of inspiration, with the very God who was approaching him,
felt the divinity of his presence, and would fain acknowledge his own
inferiority. What was the reply? "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." He who had said that men
must be baptized for the remission of sins, though himself sinless,
would honor that law by obedience unto it. Thus we learn that God can
not only give law, but he can obey law. Indeed, only those who know how
to obey law are qualified to make it.
The Patience of God Under Temptation.
Next we shall see how God, in the person of Jesus Christ, manages
himself under temptation. After his baptism, he was driven of the
spirit into the wilderness, where he fasted forty days and forty
nights. There under the quiet stars, and in the desert, he was
consecrating his life to the service of God the Father, and gathering
to himself those spiritual forces, and calling up those divine powers,
that should carry him through the three years of storm and tempest that
must be his in the fulfillment of his mission. When he had reached his
greatest point of weakness, when "an hungered," and fainting from his
long fast, whom do you suppose came into his presence to tempt him?
No other than his arch-enemy; the one with whom he contended in the
councils of God before the foundations of this earth were laid, when
the great plan of life and salvation was being discussed--Lucifer,
in the full pride of his strength and glory came tempting him. I say
Lucifer came in the fullness of his strength and glory; for I take it
that at this time he had well-nigh reached the pinnacle of his power.
We have seen that he had blinded all the races of men respecting God.
Truly, he held the nations of the world and their glory within his
own hands: and the knowledge of the true God was not had among men.
Proudly, therefore, he steps to the side of the weakened God, to
propound certain questions to him. In substance, he said, "You have had
whisperings of the Spirit that you are Deity, that you are the Son of
God. If so, exercise your creative power, turn these stones into bread,
and satisfy your hunger. Come, since you are a God, you must needs have
creative powers; try it upon these stones and hunger no more." God,
in the presence of his arch-enemy, still retained his humility, and
answered out of the scriptures: "It is written, Man shall not live by
bread alone."
After that, Lucifer takes the Christ to the pinnacle of the temple,
and tries him upon another side--a side upon which good men are
particularly vulnerable, the side of their vanity, that prompts them
to believe they are the special favorites of heaven, and that God
had given his angels charge concerning them. Christ's tempter said,
"If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written,
he shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against
a stone." Again the Son of God answers in humility, and still out of
the scriptures: "It is written also, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God." Because God has given you certain promises, you apostles, and
prophets, and men of God; because you, by your righteousness, perchance
have made yourselves of the elect of God, it is not becoming that you
should be putting God constantly upon trial. "Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God." Walk your pathway in the light of common sense, and be
not puffed up with vanity because there is something special in your
relationship with God.
Lucifer next approaches Jesus upon the side most vulnerable of all, in
quick and mighty spirits--on the side of ambition. I take it that there
have been but few strong men who have not felt the desire to rule, to
govern; and not always selfishly, either, or for personal ends, but
sometimes out of an honest thought that they can do somewhat of good to
humanity. Even good men may love power, and may aspire to the righteous
exercise of it. It was upon this side that Lucifer sought to break in
upon the virtue of Jesus. He unveils the kingdoms of the world; which
he holds in his thraldom; he reveals their glory, and the might and
majesty to which men may attain, if only they can grasp the sceptre of
some great empire. Now, says he, "All these things will I give thee, if
thou wilt fall down and worship me." He who has answered in tones so
humble up to this point; and has endured the taunts and questionings
of his great enemy with becoming modesty and humility, now, evidently,
feels stirring within him some of those master powers that may shake
the world and send the stars out of their courses, "Get thee hence,
Satan," said he, "for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve." The spirit of the Son of God was
aroused, it was time for Lucifer's departure, and so he left Jesus, and
angels came and ministered unto him. So God deports himself under trial
and temptation. How splendid the lesson for man!
The Compassion and Impartiality of God.
Jesus was possessed of infinite compassion. The incidents that I shall
relate to you, in support of this statement, are in quotations that
are free, and yet, I think, justified by the spirit of the several
occasions. After all, it is the spirit that giveth life; the letter
killeth; so let us look at these things in the spirit of them. You see
him one day with some of his disciples approaching the little village
of Nain, "his raiment dusty and his sandals worn." As they draw near,
the gate is opened and a funeral procession marches out. The mother of
the young man whose body is being borne by his neighbors to the final
resting place, walks feebly and weeping beside the bier, desolate
in her loneliness. As Jesus saw that poor woman in the midst of her
sorrow, his heart--I pray you think of it, for we are speaking of God
when we speak of Jesus Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth--the
heart of God, is moved with compassion towards this woman. He stops the
bier, takes the dead by the hand, and says, "Young man, I say unto you,
Arise." And he arose. Jesus Christ gave this woman back her son. It
was an act of beautiful compassion, one of many, which illustrates how
tender and sympathetic is the heart of our God!
Nor was his ministry confined exclusively to the poor, to the widows,
to the lonely. He despised not rulers, nor the rich, because they were
rich; but was willing, if only they could put themselves in a position
to receive the manifestations of his compassion--he was willing to
minister unto them. This is proved in the case of Jairus, one of the
rulers of the Jews, and a man of great wealth. You will remember that
he came running to the Master with his sorrow--his daughter was lying
dangerously ill at home; and such was his faith that if the Master
would but speak the word, she would be healed. While yet he spake, one
of his servants came running, saying, "Thy daughter is dead: trouble
not the Master." But Jesus heeded not the word of the servant. He had
heard Jairus' cry of faith, and responsive to that faith-cry, he made
his way to the home of the ruler, put out those who were unbelieving,
and taking the maid by the hand, gave her back to the gladness of life,
into the arms of the joyous father. The faith of that rich man was as
great as the faith of any we meet with in all the ministry of the Lord.
So, wealth is not necessarily a hindrance to faith. God is as close
to the faithful rich as to the faithful poor, and as ready to grant
them his mercy, according to their faith. I sometimes think we make a
mistake when we would flout those who are rich and put them outside the
pale of God's mercy and goodness because of what may be nothing but a
prejudice--which in reality may be our envy--of the rich.
While on the way to the ruler's house, another incident happened that
is very remarkable. A woman in the throng, a long time afflicted with
a grievous ailment, said in her heart as she saw him pass, "If I may
but touch his garment, I shall be whole." Accordingly she crowded her
way forward, dropped upon her knee, clutched the garment, and received
the divine power from him which cleansed her body and healed her
completely. Jesus, observing that something had happened to him, turned
to the apostles and said, "Who touched me?" They replied, "Master, the
multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched
me?" as if that was not to be expected in such a crowd, Ah! said
Jesus, but "I perceive that virtue is gone out of me." What was it?
Simply that through this poor woman's faith--who supposed herself so
far removed from God that she dare--not come into his presence and ask
for the blessing she desired, but undertook to obtain it by indirect
means--through her faith and touching the garment of the Lord, the
healing virtues passed from God to her in such a tangible manner that
he felt their departure, just as some of you elders, when administering
to one who was full of faith have felt your spiritual strength and
life go out from you leaving you weak and almost helpless, but giving
healthful life to the afflicted. I speak to men who have experience in
these things, and I know that scores of you could bear witness to the
truth of this phenomenon. If our lives can but touch the life of God,
such is his nature that we shall partake of the virtues that go out
from him.
What shall I say of lepers that crowded into Messiah's presence, and
who, notwithstanding the loathsomeness of their disease, found sympathy
and help from contact with him? What of the blind, the lame, the halt?
Why, let us not speak of them; for though it is a great thing that
their bodies should be healed, and they should go through the community
singing the praises of him who had restored them, there are better
things to speak of--the healing of men's souls, the purifying of their
spirits.
God's Treatment of Sinners.
Let us ask, rather, how did Jesus Christ--God--deal with sinners? I
take one incident that has always appealed very strongly to me, and
illustrates the spirit in which Christ deals with sinners; for this God
of ours is peculiarly the friend of sinners, not because of their sins,
however, but in spite of them; and because of his compassion upon those
so unfortunate as to be under the bondage of sin. The over-righteous
Pharisees of Christ's time would not for the world come in contact with
sinful men, lest they themselves should be polluted. They gathered the
robes of their sanctity about them, and considered themselves in such
close relation with God that they could afford to despise his poor,
unfortunate, sinful children, instead of holding out the hand that
would bring them from the kingdom of darkness into the brightness and
glory of the kingdom of God. But not so with Jesus Christ. When he was
accused by this class of men of mingling with publicans and sinners,
his answer to them was, "They that are whole need not a physician; but
they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance." As if he had said, you who are righteous and have no need
of healing for sin, stand by yourselves; my mission is not to you,
but to those who have need of God's help. Such was the spirit of his
answer. The incident to which I refer as illustrative of his compassion
for sinners, is this: The Jews were always on the alert to entrap the
Messiah's feet and bring him into contradiction with the law of Moses.
The law of Moses, as first given to Israel, was that if any should
be found in adultery they should be stoned to death; but the Rabbis,
by nice discriminations of words, practically had rendered that law
a dead letter, by reason of which the adulterers in Israel escaped
the punishment that God had decreed against them. Therefore, they
thought if they could take a person who unquestionably had been guilty
of this crime and bring him or her into the presence of Jesus, they
would either bring him in conflict with the law of Moses, or with the
tradition of the elders, and in either case would have sufficient cause
to denounce him before the people. So they found a woman, caught in the
act; they dragged her through the streets, and cast her at his feet.
"Master," said they, "this woman was taken in adultery, in the very
act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned:
but what sayest thou?" He replied, "He that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her." One by one they slunk away, until
the woman was left alone with Jesus. When Jesus looked around, and saw
none but the woman, he said to her, "Woman, where are thine accusers?
hath no man condemned thee?" "No man, Lord," she said. Then Jesus said:
"Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more." That is how God deals
with sinners. It is written that God cannot look upon sin with the
least degree of allowance, and that is true, he cannot; but how about
the sinner? Why, he may look upon the sinner with infinite compassion.
While sin must always be hateful, yet will he help and love the sinner,
if he will but go his way and sin no more. Such is our human weakness,
and so nearly the level upon which we all move, that there is none of
us but will plead mightily for mercy; and, thank God, we shall not
plead in vain; for, while our Judge cannot look upon sin with any
degree of allowance, his heart goes out in compassion and love to men
and he will help them to overcome sin, to fight a good fight, to keep
the faith, and at last enable them to win the crown in the kingdom of
our God.
God's Spirit of Toleration.
Jesus, moreover, was tolerant. You will recall the circumstance of his
having to go through Samaria, and you remember that the Samaritans
hated the Jews, and Jesus was a Jew. Some of his disciples went into
a village of Samaria, through which Jesus would have to pass, and
sought to make arrangements for the Master to stay over night; but the
Samaritans closed their doors against him. They had heard of him; he
was a Jew; and in the narrowness of their minds they would not admit
the hated Jew into their homes. This very much angered the disciple
John, who loved Jesus dearly. He was one of the "sons of thunder,"
and possessed of a spirit that could love; and being strong in love,
as is often the case--I was going to say as is always the case--he
was likewise strong in hating. He was the type of man that does both
heartily. Hence, he went to the Master and asked him if he might not
call down fire from heaven upon those Samaritans for thus rejecting
the Master. Jesus replied: "Ye know not what spirit ye are of. The Son
of Man came to save, not to destroy." A broadness, a liberality truly
glorious.
Jesus was properly broad minded--liberal. On one occasion some of the
disciples found one casting out devils in the name of Jesus, and they
forbade him, because he followed not the Master. When they came into
the presence of Jesus, they reported this case and told what they had
done. Jesus said, "Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do
a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me." Then he gave
us the other half of that truth, "He that is not for me is against me,"
by saying, "For he that is not against us is for us." Thus he corrected
the narrow-mindedness of his own apostles.
The Severity of God.
But notwithstanding all his mercy, his tolerance, his patience and
gentleness, there were times when he, who was so infinitely merciful
could also be infinitely just; he who was so infinitely compassionate
could be infinitely severe. I give you an instance of it. He had
struggled long and hard with those hypocrites, the Scribes and
Pharisees; and finally the voice of justice and reproof, as it is to be
found in God, speaks forth through Jesus Christ, and this is what he
said:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the
kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses,
and for a pretense make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive
the greater damnation.
That is not so gentle, is it? Listen again:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea
and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him
twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye
blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is
nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is
a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or
the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever, shall swear
by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift
that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is
greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? * * *
Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees! for ye make clean the outside of
the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within
the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like
unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within
ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets,
and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had
been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers
with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses
unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the
prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents,
ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
And this from that gentle, compassionate man! The voice of God in its
severity speaks through these tones, and bids us understand that it
must be a terrible thing to fall under the displeasure of God. Think of
the infinite difference between that sweet compassion which he has for
the penitent sinner, and this severe but just arraignment of those who
persist in their sins! A warning to all men to beware of the justice of
God, when once it shall be aroused!
God Completely Revealed Through Christ.
My friends, this Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh, proved
to be so from the scripture; the character of God is revealed in the
wonderful life that Jesus, the Son of God, lived on earth; in it we
see God in action; and from it we see the gentleness, the compassion,
and also the justice and severity of God. Jesus Christ is God; and he
is also man; but I take no stock in those sectarian refinements which
try to tell us about the humanity of Jesus being separate from the
divinity of Jesus. He himself made no such distinctions. He was divine,
spirit and body, and spirit and body was exalted to the throne of his
Father, and sits there now with all the powers of the Godhead residing
in him bodily, an immortal, glorified, exalted man! The express image
and likeness God of the Father; for as the Son is, so is the Father.
Yet when we announce to the world that we believe God to be an exalted
man, we are told that we are blasphemers. But as long as the throne of
Jesus Christ stands sure, so long as his spirit remains in his immortal
body of flesh and bones, glorified and everlasting, shall keep his
place by the side of the Father, so long will the doctrine that God
is an exalted man hold its place against the idle sophistries of the
learned world. The doctrine is true. It cannot be enthroned. A truth
is a solemn thing. Not the mockery of ages, not the lampooning of the
schoolmen, not the derision of the multitude, not the blasphemy of the
world, can affect it; it will always remain true. And this doctrine,
announced by Joseph Smith to the world, that God is an exalted man,
that Jesus Christ is the revelation of God to the world, and that he is
just like his Father, and that those who are his brethren may become as
he is, when they have walked in his footsteps--that is a doctrine that
will stand sure and fast as the throne of God itself. For Jesus Christ
was God manifested in the flesh. He was the revelation of God to the
world. He was and is and ever will remain an exalted man. He is, and
always will remain, God.