The Ohio Independent Baptist, September 1969

\\1 ith the f e ia:nic prophecie of J e\\ i h hi tor): it \\ as the pau e in the great drama \Vaiting for it final act. Four centurie before Chri t the , oice of the prophet w a bu bed. And Greek philo ophy, during the centuries in1n1ed1ately before Chri t, uf fered defeat al o. Plato \.\ as con– ciou of the limitation of the hu– man intellect. It Vva capable of a - piring after truth but incapable of reaching it. There is a con tant utter– ance of failure in hi later writing . The oul i \\'earied of its O\\ n a - piration . It cannot climb to God ... God mu t as Plato dimly ee it, ~toop to man: and he put on the lip of ocrate the word , "We will \\ 1 ait for one, either God or a God– in pired man. to teach u our religiou duties and to take away the darkne from our eye ... Greek philo ophy i not merely a tangle of questions un– an v., ered or puzzles un olved, but a confe sion that the que tion are unan ""erable. the puzzles beyond olution. The Messiah Appears Then. suddenly, there came to J~Vvi sh prophecy and Greek ph.ilo o– ph)1 an event that fulfilled the desire of both the appearance of the l\1essiah ! The manifestation of Christ in the world satisfied all the Messianic predictions of the Old Te tament and al o met the need of all that Greek philosophy dreamed of, longed for, yet failed to reach. Christ is the divine embodiment of the Jewi h ideal of perfect holine s. and the ful– fillment of the Greek ideal of divine " 'i. don1. But it was a Jew, not a reek: a fi herman and n t a philo O– pher through whom God revealed th is great truth. We quote from John's go pel ... •'In the beginning \Vas the Word, (that is Christ) and the \ ord was \1,it/1 God. and the Word i11t1\· 1od. All thing were made by l1 i111; a11d without hi111 \\'as n t any 1hing 111ade that 'A'a n1adc. In hin1 was lif · a11(I the life \i\'a the light of 111e11 . . . And the Word wa 111ade fie h and dwelt a111011g lt , (and v.r•c 1 el1eld 11 is glor)' , tl1e glory as of the onl}' begotten f tt1e 1:a1her,) full of grace a11d trutl1." 1 ru1ly, in J tJ hri , Jv\\ i h J)r I l1eC)' a11 i , reek 1>h I I ,,11} 11 et a r1d fi 11d t l1eir gre·i t f ulfill11 nt a11d deer> ti f ctio11. "f'l1i I tl1e inc, it b\e l gic 10 ,vl1icl1 l1i - 1 l} 1 d u. Al , tl1 .. t 11g! d li11 11 u pat 11 a } h i t r} ' 111 a11 \)e n tl1e gui i1 g 1 1 t 1 n >. 1 · c 11 J> i n t e n1 l1 t ul · grc \I\ 1 UI f J) , 11 rHE OHIO IND P ND N BAP IS tortu- di,,ine 111 n ng ti "]1i 11, in the fullne of time. did bring the One \\ ho has tran formed every life hL1n1bly ubn1itted to Him. The in- pired writer of acred cripture point– ed out that wa 1 in the words ... "The path of the ju t i a the shining light, that hineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the v.r icked i a darkne : they know not at what the,· tun1ble. ' ' The greate t truggle and mo t deci ive battle of human hi tory have not been fought upon the mountain and plain of earth. but in the heart of men where the truth of God ha ought to prevail over the evil of error. The line of Jame Ru ell Lowell et forth thi e tabli hed fact of hi tory ... ·~care– les seem the great Avenger: history' page but record: One death grapples in the darkne twixt old y ten1S and the Word: Truth forever on the caf– fold, \.\ rong forever on the throne: Yet that caffold ways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, tand– eth God within the hadow, keep– ing watch above H i own.' ' Christ Is Supreme The uperlative tatement of Jesu the Mes iah tand at the cro road of all the converging line of hi tory to meet the need of n1ankind. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He i<; the truth incarnate: He i~ life to all who believe in Him. As the way Chri t pan the distance between ,od and the inner. Man would fain n1anufacture a ladder of hi O\.\ n and by means of hi resolu– tion and reformation , hi prayer and tear , climb up to God . That 1 1mpo ible: A ' 'the Truth," hri\t 1 the full and final re\,elation of God. ' f ru th is not to be f ot1nd in a c;y~te n1 of philo ophy. but in a pcr\on. What loll y to ignore Hin1! What \\ill it avail in eternity if you n1a tcr all the \Ct nee~ of n1en, \.\ere acqt1,1tntec.l with ,tll the C\ent, o( hi\t<.1ry, \\C1e versed in all the pol1t1c~ of ot1r tla). and ve t 1111 \\ec.l the ''I rt1th of l:lcr nal .; l ife wit h the \\'UV tc.) heave11. ~ Hthc ' J I... ife," hrist i. tl1c l\!li\'era11LC fro111 d ath! hrist is nt1t 111crel)' ,l gtti<ic \\1 }1() ca111c to sl1 >\V 111 >11 1}1\:! 1latl1 i11 \\ }1icl1 tile)' t1ghl to ,,,alk: 11 i tl1e V,\', ) ' to , l. hri t i llOl Illtil' 1 ' a t,cachcr, ,, ~1cJ ca111 t r v 'ti Jo 1ri11 regar Ji11g CJ I: tle i tt1 trt1t~1 . f 1 I. l1ri t i 11 t 111er l)' , 1>l1 1 1a11 c ,111e t r , j,,c I , rk f li, 1 i11it ' in 1 11 11 r all 111 ·111ki11d , r I irituall I d, in tr p, 11d i11, l ut l1ri t c 111e '"tl1at tl1 111igl1t 11 \ life." J a )1 I1, l t , <l ar fr i ~ 11 I , t 1.. i,e }1 1111, ti gift f 111 age t "'11 11 , 11 l 111 d . . . t 11 • , , 1 \1r f t 11 ~ \\ rid! r/'1<& 1ftJU etJ1tee;enzz; ? rl~t r/meu(A4. ?teed /tJJt {3/twufu that really DO • • • • • • • • • ~ Point Men To GOD P080X 455 El YRIA , OHIO 44035 1Fuul1rite 11lrripr tv\acaroni Salad (For 50 People) 21 2 tt) 1 lh\ 111:tcaroni I t} i ctt J)'\ f- re nc h l) r C\'> 1 r1g 3 T h"J)\. \,1lt 1 :2 t,i1 ,, h1tc ~1~p11\!1 I qt <.l1ccli c~lcr\ l ct111 ct1 111)~Li g1cc11 [1CJ)I 'f 1 2 ~tlJ) llt'J)l \? l I .trslc~ 1 1 2 CllJ) \. lll)()J) t r~i ,11 _1 _ ct1 1,~ ~alL i LlrL,,11g l r•i11 ll le11 l 4 .. l l1 J)s. \ i 11t ~ar ~ t() I () h 'l r l k Li 11 I I d \: gg " k 111 tL. r ,11i i11 l) iling .1lt\: i ,, a t ~ r , n I, t 1111 i l t 11 l r. J I 1\ i11, rin e ,, itl1 11 ,, tcr, an l tr in lgain. l ix 111,l ,1r 11i ligl1tl ,, itl1 1--:r 11 11 I re i11g, hill f r ~ ,, rrtl 11 Llr • pr i11klc ,, itl1 ~.1lt ,t11<l ll I I 1. f \ Id I r , g1 cc 11 1 .. l f ·1. I a1 le a11 0111 11 . \~ 1111., t )g tl1 1 ti ltl <lre 1n i ,ldLI t ) , ti, ll ing ,111d , 111\;g 11 111grcd H:: 11 t t 111g I ,l I (l l 11 \\ l l h l1,lrd K u c. 1ct 1 1 \: dt l1gl1t I ~ I l LI l t l P MB 11 11 J l 1969 9