O f Jesus Christ
One of the Addresses Delivered at the Recent Fundamentals Conference at the Bible Institute By DR. O . P. GIFFORD, of Boston Read M atthew 1:8-25; Luke 1:26-38
face a t th a t window, his th e only form in its light. Those who knew most of Christ claimed most fob Christ. The claim is a m a tte r of record, th e record states th e faith. Life precedes lite ra tu re. Men do many things before they create lite ra tu re ; live, love, struggle, suffer, before they m ake books. The life in a seed makes roots, tru n k , branches, leaves, flowers, and finally fruit. The fru it is th e expression of the essential life of th e tree; in it is the will and testam en t, th e power of re production. L ite ra tu re is th e fru it of life. The la st and finest expression. “A good book is th e precious life-blood of a m aster-sp irit embalmed and treas ured on purpose to a life beyond life.” The body we bu ry is th e lifeless re mains of a living man, b u t a book is the living rem ains of a living mind. “The m ind’s th e stand ard of th e m an.” A book is to a nation w hat th e memory is to a man, it preserves though t and perp etu ates life. A man dies, a book lives, a nation perishes, a lite ra tu re per sists. Cities * crumble away, monu ments disappear, books abide; like Noah’s a rk they outfloat th e flood and land new life on drying shores. Men live, th ink , talk , and generations rep eat th e story; we have myths, lég- ends, trad ition s, passing from genera tion to generation th rough ear-gate. A man arises who w rites, winnows the chaff from th e wheat, stores th e grain like ano th er Joseph in Egypt. Many centuries ago a m an led a m ighty movement of freedom , freed a nation from bondage, w rote books, founded a literatu re , organized a na-
T ext Luke 1:35. “A nd th e angel answ ered and said unto h er: The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and th e pow er of th e M ost H igh shall overshadow th ee; w herefore also th e holy th in g th a t is b egotten shall be called th e Son of God." ERTAIN sentences become identified w ith certain
men, they become a p art of th e ch aracter; when the sentence is spoken, you th in k of th e m an; when th e m an’s nam e is spoken
you th in k of th e sentence. When I say “F a th e r of th e faith fu l,” you th in k of Abraham . “The Shepherd king,” of David, “The Apostle to th e Gentiles,” of P aul, “ The F a th e r of his Country,” of W ashington, “Honest Abe,” of Lincoln, “Unconditional su r rend er,” of G rant, and The V irgin B irth ,” of Jesu s Christ. The phrase does no t fit anyone else, does not suggest ano th er person. The New Tes tam ent' speaks of many spiritually m inded men, b u t claims for none of them th e V irgin B irth. Jo h n was the g reatest prophet born of woman, th e only man living who knew Jesus when He came to the Jordan. John h ad re buked Pharisee, p riest and scribe, de manded repentance of all, b u t sh rank from baptizing Jesu s; y et John h ad a hum an fath er. John th e disciple had m arvellous sp iritu a l insight, has given us th e Gospel of th e h e a rt of Christ, yet he had a hum an fath e r. Next to Jesus, P au l is th e founder of th e Church, or ganized many churches, his epistles are th e constitution of th e Church, yet P aul had a hum an father. To Christ and Christ alone does th e sentence ‘ The V irgin B irth ” belong. H is is th e only
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