The Reverend Samuel Greene

The first pastor of our church (1880-1887)

SCRIPTURE They Were Strangers and Pilgrims ~ Hebrews 11:1-16

SERMON Disciples of the Divine

How I love that passage from the book of Hebrews. “Pilgrims and Strangers.” If you were born in Boston, as I was, the first thing those words would bring to mind is the sacrifice and courage of our Pilgrim mothers and fathers who crossed the stormy North Atlantic in a small boat called the Mayflower. They came to the shores of Massachusetts so that they might have the freedom to worship as God called them. They were seeking a homeland, a better country.

We, who are gathered together today in this wilderness land to the east of Lake Washington, are also Pilgrim people. We have come to Washington territory seeking a homeland, a better country. And God has prepared for us a city. A city to nurture, to love, and to serve. This city, here, in this place.

But, the clouds of darkness that drove our ancestors across the ocean, now are hovering over the churches of New England. The Unitarians claim to follow a truer faith. They challenge our belief in Jesus Christ, and make fun of our Trinity. Even here, in this green land, there are men calling for a simple faith in a loving spirit. These well-intentioned but misled souls are a threat to the continued existence of the church of Jesus Christ.

When my time comes to retire from full-time ministry, I intend to write a reply to the questions raised by the Unitarians. I have already give the matter considerable thought and have begun to write a “conversation” in defense of the divinity of Christ. With your permission, I will share some of what I have written…

**(the following material was adapted from a tract written by “The Late Rev. Samuel Greene” of Boston. The piece is titled More Than One Hundred Scriptural and Incontrovertible Arguments for Believing in The Supreme Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.)

Do you say I cannot comprehend God as existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? But can you comprehend his existence in one person? In what consists the unity of that Being who is personally present in millions of worlds at the same instant of time? Grant that he exists in perfect unity - what then? Can you comprehend one of the attributes of this infinite Being? Can you conceive of his eternity, that existence which had no beginning? Can you comprehend his omnipresence; or how he could create a world out of nothing?

You reply, though I cannot explain these things, yet to represent God as existing in three persons, is to represent him as being wholly unlike any other being. True, he is unlike any other being, and this, too, in his eternity, self-existence, and omnipresence, as well as in his triune nature: “Who can by searching find out God? To whom will yet liken him?” You say there is so much more simplicity in the belief that he is one without any distinctions in the Godhead - but is there therefore more truth? Is simplicity in such a case evidence of truth? How various and incomprehensible the attributes of Deity! How complex and mysterious his works of creation and providence! You say the terms trinity and trinitarianism are not found in the Bible. Where in the Bible are the words unity and unitarianism to be found?

But you say it is impossible that Christ should be both God and man. Why so? Do we not say of man that he is mortal and immortal? But he cannot be mortal and immortal in the same sense. No more is Christ God and man in the same sense. As to his divine nature, he is God, as to his human nature he is man. Still you say there is a great mystery, that God and man should be united in one person, and I cannot comprehend it. Your good sense, however, will not permit you to urge this as a reason why you should reject the truth. Are you not a mystery to yourself? Can you comprehend how a thought moves your arm; or how the spires of grass under your feet grow; or what are the properties of a single pebble you may take in your hand?

There is no more confusion or inconsistency in speaking of Christ sometimes as God, and at others as man, than in speaking of man sometimes as mortal, and at others, as immortal. The humble Christian, in his seasons of near and holy communion with the Son of God, feels no difficulty on this point. Because we hear it said of man, “dust thou art, and onto dust shalt thou return,” we do not disbelieve those passages that speak of the soul which at death goeth upward. Could a thousand texts be arrayed in an argument, asserting expressly man’s earthly origin and mortality - what then? Are not those likewise true, which speak of the immortality of his spiritual existence? How then does proving the humanity of Christ disprove his divinity?

While in the humble form of a servant, assumed that he might make an atonement for our sins, what more natural, than that he should be generally spoken of according to that humble form? Was not his humiliation real?

That he is truly man, we entertain not one doubt, and equally certain are we, that he is the word made flesh, god manifest in the flesh, and in his divine nature, God.

From here I will use the very texts of our Holy Bible to prove, without a doubt, that Jesus is God, and not some inferior being as the Unitarians profess. I share with you today, just a few of the more than one hundred scriptural and incontrovertible arguments I have gathered for believing in the supreme divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, “Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.” He was made lower for the accomplishment of a specific object - what was he originally? This is perfectly consistent with his being God, and “all the angels being commanded to worship him.” Ungrateful mortals, because you behold your Lord in the form of a servant, and suffering death for your redemption, will you take occasion from this very expression of his condescending love, to rob him of his divine glory?

Much has been said and written of late to prejudice the public mind against our most excellent translation of the Holy Scriptures, as though it were unwarrantably partial to Trinitarian views. That it is perfect, would be to say that the translators were more than human. That they were firm Trinitarians, is granted, as the great body of holy and learned men have always been; but that, on the whole, a more fair and just representation of the original was never produced, has been acknowledged by all denominations of Christians speaking the English tongue, for more than two centuries.

Let me return to my defense of the divinity of Christ. Christ himself claims, in unqualified terms, an equality with the Father. Paul tells us so in Philippians, Chapter 2, verse 6: “Christ, being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”

His own disciples believed him to be God. In John (20:28) we read “Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my God.” For this act of faith Christ commended the adoring disciple. This is not a profane exclamation, but an address to Christ. Now, had not the lowly Saviour been worthy of such divine honor, would he not have administered a reproof instead of a blessing?

A Unitarian said to a venerable clergyman, “If the doctrine of Christ’s Deity were true, I am sure so important a doctrine must have been revealed with a clearness no one could have mistaken.” “And what language would you have chosen?” Said the clergyman. “I would have had him called the true God,” replied the man. “Right,” said the clergyman - “the very language of the apostle, I John 5:20 ‘We are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ: this is the true God, and eternal life.’”

In the book of Revelation (5:11,12) John says, “I head the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.’” And if this be not supreme worship, what is?

Let me live and die with a prayer to the Son of God on my lips; and if I err, it will be with Stephen when full of the Holy Ghost, and with the whole apostolic church. Let me know, and forever, be a worshipper of the Son of God; and if I err, it will be with all the angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect.

Most of those who have rejected the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, have gone on progressively in a course of error, letting slip one great doctrine after another, till they have denied the inspiration of most or all of the holy Scriptures.

Remember, there is no instance recorded in the Bible nor on the page of ecclesiastic history, nor have we ever heard of the case, where a person lamented, on a dying bed, that he had reposed too much confidence in Christ, served him with too unreserved devotion, or ascribed to him more glory than was his due; whilst lamentations of the opposite character come with a mournful frequency.

Now, dear friends, what thinkest thou of Christ? A question of greater moment, more vital to your eternal well-being, cannot be asked of you. Answer it with his own solemn warning before you. “If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” Will you incur the guilt, and run the hazard of robbing your Saviour of his divine glories? Will you not this moment imitate the angels and all the redeemed, and cast yourself at his feet, and with adoring gratitude ascribe all glory to his name? As his personal dignity is exalted or debased in your estimation, so will be your confidence in him, and expectations from him. A creature as your Savior, however exalted, cannot satisfy your soul, cannot pardon your sins. Rise, then, to loftier views; let a heaven-born faith present him before you as that Being in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Then, great indeed will be your expectations; and they will for ever rise and swell, as you gaze on the glories of his person, and the unsearchable riches of his grace. And I beseech you, remember, whatever be your views of Christ, in a few days you must stand before his judgment-seat. He that came in swaddling-bands shall come in clouds, and every eye shall see him, even they who have pierced and dishonored him. I plead with you, open your heart to God’s love and salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.