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Show Church Deportment THE DESERET NEWS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1938. Mastery. Before Jesus began His ministry Re proved Himself rapt He He s' of withstanding the Tempter. tio tleVerOtleefltild.Ilike - ;:nd Tet' yield,be mine and yours if we hope to advance spiritually and rise above , natty declared: elle of good ch.rer are which overcome I and the world."' You have the things the earth akin to it. students know that you cannot With all my soul believe with rise UnieSs you overcome and conround your examapostle, Peter, that imeptuous quer. Sneak inations if you will. but in your that "there is none 'other name tire men heaven given among tier hearts you will know you haven't In the difficulties of your whereby We mustwasbe saved.' real to Pe- - conquered that day Christ sublects. as teal today. ter: and He la just Don't merely yield to the appo of ' the The whole philosophy Mee of the flesh with an effort to progress of man Is associated with gain pleasure and happiness If His divine coming. He Is the Son will find that the bap withered of God, who took upon Himself is Wets you seek crumbled in that mortality even ag you and I. yet flower your divine even as you end may be-Igrasp. You go and go Until rut desired sensation ean get the the march of this spiritual without , destroying yourself phyel. i:HEiLRFALITY:OF CHRIST: (Continued Page Three) risen Christ, end accepted Him as definitely as Judge Sawyer knew and accepted the reality of Joseph Smith. Of the value and effect of such nearness and intimacy Mr. Nichols writes:, "The authors of the epistles were within hailing distance, historically, of Christ, when their ideas, rate, they afterwards transmitted to paper, Were formed. The winds had hardly had time to efface the sacred in the sands print of his over which hesteps walked. The rain had hardly had time to wash away, with it, callous tears, the blood from the rotting wood of the deserted cross. "Yet, these men knewI can't go on using the word 'believe.' which is far too vapid and colorlessthat God had descended to earth in the shape of a certain man, that this man had met an obscene and clownish death, and that the grotesque mode of his dying had redeemed mankind from sin. They knew, moreover, that he had risen 'from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven. It is no use saying that their' minds - were for such legends because prepared of the prophets, and because of the Immemorial Jewish tradition that this sort of thing would happen, one day. Our minds might be prefor all sorts of things which, pared if they happened, would be rejected for their sheer improbabilBut these men's minds did ity. not reject these things. They accepted them implicity. And at the 'risk of being a bore, I must reiterate the fact that they accepted something far more astonishing than a statement that the moon was made of cheese, or that little girls are made of 'sugar and spice and all things nice. They accepted something infinitely more miraculous than that. They accepted Christian tradition." WHY WAS CHRIST'S BIRTH NOT HERALDED SO ALL MIGHT KNOW BEYOND A SHADOW OF a,,,.!), which DOUBT? There are some who defiantly ask: Ally was the birth of Jesus revealed only to the shepherds? Why did God not proclaim his advent to the whole world? Anything so important as to involve the salvation of the entire human should he broadcasted. family Why leave a truth of such import and magnitude so difficult to learn and to understand? I have heard the same questions and many more about the coming forth of the plates from which the hook of Mormon was translated. Why were they hidden? Why were they not put in theusSmithsonian Institute to see and turn' the for all of pages so that we should know beyond a shadow of doubt that the story of the Book of Mormon is time? In reply to such queries Beverly Nichols aptly writes: "Try to imagine what the world without doubt would be. Supposing He (Christ) had come only for an hour. Science would have perthat hour for all time. petuated We should be able to see him on the cinema, to hear his voice on We should be the gramophone. able to read In the newspapers a his lightest of thousand reports There would not be the gesture. faintest shallow of a reason' why any num or woman in any counfor one try in the world should the complete moment question leChristian the of authenticity gend. "What then? "Ask yourself that question. And graduReally ask yourself. ally, if you shut your eyes and reason it all Out, you will try to see a most tremendous paradox forming in your brain. The pars. (lox is that the world, in the light ef such a challenging revelation, would be a drab world, and that humanity would be infinitely the poorer. 'What!' you may exclaim, 'the world would be drab after Christ had shone in glory over the streets, and after we have had actual photographs of His presence, and records of his voice? Drab, when we couldn't help believing, even if we tried?' 'Yes, drab.. But I do not think that word as quite strong enough. I think I should have said 'dead.' "Put it like this: If the Bible were as simple as, let us say, yea terday's isfue of The Times, II we could personally consult the Dien who had written it, if wt could go round the corner to a newsreel theatre and see Christ raising Lazarus, if the' 'whole thing were before our eyea.,,What 'then? I can only repeat, we would also think that very drab. All merit would have been taken from faith. All glory from virtue. The man who did not do as Christ told him to do would be, quite frankly, a damned fool. And the man who did do r Christ told him to do would be no more admirable, and no more spiritually benefited, than the man who keeps within the speed limit and obeys the ordinary - law's of the land. "In a World without Doubt. Christ would descend. with a ,dull and slatening thud, to the level of :a policeman. He would be, at best a sort of sublime magistrate. "if this revelation (of Christ) were to be of real value to man, In his climb upwards,' it Would be a .vellea revelation, a revelation which forced man to do his part and to share in the lacrifice. of "Man, the highest Creation God, has never got 'something for nothing." Throughout every hour of history he has, had to fight. No sooner does he appear to have won a triumph over Nature' than be is reminded that he cannot rest and that he has a long way further to go. In times of peace, on fertile plains, in hot climates, men have waxed fat and prosperous, and a fever tomes to slay them. In times of plenty, when the world is runwith gold, and the (granaries ning are fuU the men who should be friends stir up evil and fight, and the gold chokes them and the granaries are emptied. I often think that the last war may have been a supreme example of this sublime Men had been given discipline. power over the land and the sea and the air. In their hands were magic glasses which searched the secrets of the moon. They had learnt to speak across continents, their voices carried more swiftly and 'clearly than the shout of giant. They had trilprigoned the song of the nightinon a disk of shining wax. gale they had set up screens in the dark on which, like strange ghosts their women danced and loved. evoked by a film of mystically celluloid, Man was a great maseemed, gician? yes! Heaven. it was in his grasp, as a bubble IS In And the grasp of a child. then, like a spoilt child, he shattered it. The wreckage is still strewn around him. "History is a record of struggle. Progress is a partible of pain. And every spiritual- adventure which has advanced the soul of man, has been a leap in the dark." Browne was right when he said this message was to you, and to Christ's reality must be you. sensed by you and by me, and the reality of His philosophy must - A By Eternal Father." ts Ccnsider a few Bible tests on this subject. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his head." (Gen. 3:1.7t). to The Serpent was. according , the Pearl of Great Price. Mos. the agent through whose mouth Satan spoke. Was he, perchance, in the a kind of lieutenant-genera- l hosts of heaven, (D. and C. 29:113, 37) that followed Lucifer In his rebellion? At any rate. he bad .Eve, pretending to being we desirous of promoting het: 4:0-7- Now the LordAotreed that this 'pretenacswould turn Into perpetual enmity. 'False friendship oetween partners in transgression always does. tie also decreed that the seed of the woman should "bruise" the head of the Serpent, a prophecy, couched In highly symbolic language. which can only be fulfilled In the final victory of the Son of lie was tbe God over all evil, seed of woman, being the son of a virgin. St. Paul, it is supposed, alludes t 1 - ' nect.s- sary and definite steps, young men, if we can only sense them. A Skews, of Freedom The first step in spiritual is a consciousness of freestrength dom. This is the principle 'which Christ accepted the began when the appointment to his earthly-tnissioit is toFree Agency a nft,4s funIndividual freedom. In damental the beginning the Lord asked for someone to go down on earth to redeem mankind. One responded saying: "Send me.I and I will make words all men do as want, the glory! are mine, but I saythe Another replied: Here I am, send me and you may have the glory.' He would give to each one the agency. There Is the right of free God of soul progress. beginning desires to make men like Himself but to do so He must first make them free. Yes, students, it is the sense of freedom. You may do as you please; accept or reject the or highest and hest in life: agree endisagree with the selfishness, of world. the and antagonism mity to Animal Instincts permit you crush your neighbor that you if le rise. Accept yourself might you wish, or choose the higher road. and rougher Catty. , ' n progress there are certain 7 ' u , 1 r 1 , "What though I conquer my toe? , 111114, And lay up store end pelf, I am a conqueror poor indeed. Till I subdue myself. What though 1 read and learn by heart Whole books while I em young. I am a linguist in disgrace. Who cannot guard my tongue What though on compute-- excellA champ in meet end fight, If trained, efficient still I can COnt101 my appetite. What though exemptions write nyy' name High on the honor-roll- , Electives. solids fail me if I learn no self control. ,' 1 What though I graduate end Poet ' And life la good to tne.-My heart shall write me failure t, - , learn SELF MASTERY. Seams tot Obligatioa The third step is a sense of ob. ligation. As an . ski In developing this spiritual Christ, in II. ways, is the supreme example. Trn ly lie gave Ilia life for others. "The foxes have boles, the birds their nests, but the Son of Man hag , nowhere to lay His heed." Thus sacrificing His own comforts and tVen Ills own needs lie odmon. 'shed all to "love your anemias. Do good to them that curse you" 'Inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of theme ye do it unto me." 'If you tohavehim"--against. broth-aught a sublime priori- er, go which if pie, accepted end applied. would solve difficulties in corn. munities cities and nations Out the Savior did not stop in admonish. fie ing the one who has went further. - Note this: "If thou to the alter. and bring thy giftthere rememberest that thy broth-er bath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the sitar. end go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother.. end then come and - ' -- , vh-tue- "Know this that every soul is free. To choose his course, and what he'll be; For this eternal truth is given That God will form no man to ; ko - 'leaven." i :. , ' Settee of Stikliliestery The second is a sense of self J. M Siodahl T I A Thogght For Today HE atm ot the birth ot Christ as told by the ,F.vangeliata,,,is familiar to all. Also, that His, Virs the main truth around gin birth isdetails of their inspired which the accounts are grouped. For His enin mortality mission trance en tits exit. was as miraculous as knits when all was fulfilledshe resurascension. and rection Some years ago a Rev, gentle-nul- l aroused a controversy on this Christian doctrine. He refused to as part repeat the Apostolic creed because of Ins religious services, says. that venerated document Christ was born of "Virgin Mary". He was deposed by his supervisors, but his skepticism 1,as affected others, and today many eau Use hold that Christianity without teaching dud tremendous without GRA, in any miracle, and, other miracle, too. There is a section in He Book which of Mormon, 1 Ne. 11:14-23- , seems to be 'penned with special. to modern this reference prophetic symptom of weak, tationalism. It of des?rlbes the beautiful vis,on Nephi in the 'Valley of Lemuel. of "a virgin, most beautiful and fair." who became the "mother of the Son of God", toe "Lamb of Got, yea. even the Son of the - - ; to this when be writer And Adam- was not deceived. but the woman, icing deceived, was in the transgression. 1Cotwitin hstaniing she shall be saved (I Tim. 3 14. 15).Inis to the That say, by coining offer thy gift." to the world of Jesus, as the seed It is too early to determine of a woman, the child of a virgin. the verdict of the work stbether was of That pail will approve or condemn Chant& - Gods plan of salvation. foe permitting whet its now The wonderful Immanuel prophsometimes referred to es the rope ecy (lea. 7:14) was fulfilled, first., of Czechoslovakia," but of this we as a sign to Ahos, king of Judah, ma Y be sure. in principle be was of deliverance front the enemies of right- - For the first time In the his. his people, the kings of Lyria and Israel. but secondly and more tut s tory of Great Britain the primie minister sought another ruler and ly, in the virgin birth of Christ for the redemption of the world. yielded to the latter, demand rani- The eryptic ptophecy of Jerego to war. I do not know miah- (31:22): "The Lord whether the German rulers eppre. bath this high standard or not, but created a new thing in the earth. pate will record the prime min a woman hall encompass a man.", history Ister's effort as one in harmony was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, with the divine teachings of Jesus And because of this fact of history, Christ. "It ye have aught, egainft the prophet calls upon 1xacI to brother, go to him." return' "Let thins. heart toward When the nation accept and the highway, even the way which thou wentest: Turn again. G Virgin apply this principle. war will cease. sense of Eenneerstion Israel, turn again to these thy cities." (V, 21). Service to fellowmen makes see. ' ler the "The belief In ..he virgin birth taking of the fourth step of Christ is of the highest value conseeration to ,Christ and the for the right apprehension of right Vben Jesus met the supreme Christ's unique and sinless perIlere ts One, as Paid , crisis in the Garden of Gethsemane" sonality. said: 'Father. not my will. but 7 He Romans Out in who. brinks 5:12, free from sin Himself and not inMind be done."en example of volved In the Adatnic liablitties of entire submission of self to the , the race, reverses the curse of sin will of God. Weeks before this Ho Cod's had announced the same principle. and death. Thtough in the paradoxical saying. "lie that e, mercy, he came from above. reno findeth his life. shall lose it.i and inherited guilt, needed no he that losith his life sake but generation or sanctification. became Himself the Redeemrr. Reshall find It." The verity of this generator, Sanctifiti, for ali who principle in spiritual growth maybe proved by every day experireceive him. 'Thanks to Cud for His unspeakable gilt.' James toes. You may test it when you are studying lessons in school. ' If Orr. you will concentrate, that lit. "luso more in the study at hand, you than We need today, will obtain the truth. In other ever to lift up our eyes In Ityalty, will "find yourself.' It is to Him, who was born in Lett) le. you The serpents of Infidelity true when you sit at the piano and hem. are baring their, poisonous fangs inspiring Beethoven play one of the La the midst of the camps of civilsymphonies. if you become abswb- victitne . eel in the theme wholly unconacinue the oVe Many tration,. y these tliSs3ing, loathsome of self, you will win your way Into stung-bthe hearts of your listeners. but U messengers of paganism. ':Again, the message: Christmas brings you fail to lose yourself, and thin "Look and Live!" book upon the Only of your own position and won. in Israel as Crucified One, tier whether you ere pleasing your sinless, the wilderness audience. you Will certainly fail te upon the brazen the degree that you have - tried to serpent. He skull can heal the wounded. Ile ai,me is. In the build ,yourself up. Man's- highest peat-anwords of Isaiah: spiritual achievement ofis histo f'll'Iw The Wonderful Counselor, act for the goad The Mighty God men to the glory of God, and, thug The Everlasting Father, Continued Clet Page Bevel" : The Prince of Peace. i , child-bearin- bet-lai- , ' . . " - ' t - 5 (or-m- - 'Dr. t $ : ' . : - , , |