Magyar Egyház, 1958 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1958-03-01 / 3. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ A Meditation on the Agony of Jesus (From Blaise Pascal’s Pensées /XVII.th Century/) Jesus seeks comfort at least from his three best friends, and they are asleep. He prays them to hold out for a little while with him, and they leave him with utter neglect, and so little compassion that it could not prevent them from falling asleep ... Jesus is alone on earth, without anyone not only to feel and share his suffering, but even to know of it; heaven and he are alone in that knowledge. Jesus is in a garden, not one of delight like that of the first Adam, where he lost himself and the whole human race, but one of suffering, where he saved himself and the whole human race. He suffers this pain and this desertion amid the horror of the night. I believe that Jesus never uttered a complaint but this once; this time he cries aloud as if he could no longer bear his extreme suffering, “My soul is very sorrowful, even unto death ...” Jesus seeks companionship and comfort from men. It seems to me this is the sole such occasion in all his life. But he receives none, for his disciples are asleep. Jesus will be in agony even to the end of the world; we must not sleep during that time. Jesus, thus forsaken by all, even by the friends he had chosen to watch with him, finds them asleep, and is troubled because of the danger to which they expose not him but themselves; and he speaks to them of their own salvation and their own good with deep tenderness for them in their ingratitude, and teaches them that the spirit is willing but the flesh weak... Jesus prays, uncertain of the Father’s will and in fear of death; but, when he learns that will, he goes forward to meet death: “Let us go...” Jesus besought men and was not heard. Jesus, while the disciples slept, wrought their salvation ... • He prays but once that the cup should pass from him, and that with humble submission; and he prays twice that it should come if it must... Jesus, seeing his friends asleep and his foes alert, commits himself without reserve to his Father... Jesus, being in agony and extreme distress, let us persist in prayer ...--------------o-------------J EDGAR HOOVER ABOUT THE BIBLE “Throughout the entire earth today powerful atheistic forces are striving to destroy every form of worship of God. In the Western world these forces seek to substitute materialism for Christianity, and the extent of their progress can be measured in terms of crime and communism — the twin offspring of materialism. “Do men imbued with spiritual values betray their country? We know they do not, just as we know that children reared in morally sound homes rarely become delinquent. “What, then, is the answer? “I believe that the answer lies in a spiritual renaissance— a vigorous new look at the age-old principles which are the foundation of our civilization and which alone guarantee the dignity of man. The key to such a renaissance is the Bible.” (BIBLE SOCIETY RECORD) THE CHURCH (continued) In our former articles we discussed the birth of the first Christian congregation, and also understood that the One Church of Jesus Christ exists today in the form of many Christian denominations. In this article we would like to turn our attention to the people who make the members of the One Church of Jesus Christ. Doing this, we would like to explain these following expressions: 1. Church Militant, 2. Invisible Church, and 3. Church Triumphant. What do we mean by the Church Militant? By the Church Militant we understand the One Church of Jesus Christ as it exists today on earth. Since the Christian Church came into being, she always was a fighting, a militant church, because she had always enemies who tried and are trying today to destroy her. Each individual church member is tempted constantly by Satan who tries to kill our faith in Jesus Christ and thereby to weaken our loyalty and faithfulness to the church. The members of the Christian Church are fighting Christians, waging a continuous war against their own sins, against the various temptations of Satan. Also, the Christian Church should defend herself against the hypocrites who are in the church and pretend to be good Christians but in reality are unbelievers and their only goal is to destroy the church from inside. Then there are the outspoken enemies of the church, like the communists today, who do everything in their power to annihialate the chinch. Since the Church of Jesus exists today in such circumstances and is under a constant attack of Satan, she must be a militant fighting church to preserve herself in this sinful world. What do we mean by the Invisible Church? By the invisible church we mean the spiritual fellowship of those true Christians who truly believe in Jesus Christ and hope to obtain the forgiveness of their sins and their eternal life only by their Savior. And these, from gratefulness, strive most sincerely to live by the holy laws of God. The spiritual fellowship of these true Christians is meant also by “the communion of saints”. These are saints not because they are free of sins in this present earthly life but because they will certainly inherit a holy sinless eternal life in heaven after their death. Who are these true Christians? And where are they? Only God knows who these are, and we believe that these true Christians can be found in all denominations in a certain number. This is an invisible fellowship because its members live all over the world and among the members of the different denominations. However, they belong to each other by their pure Christian faith although they cannot know each other personally. These true Christians are the only real members of the Body of Christ, that is, the Christian Church, and are truly brethren of each other in spite of their denominational affiliation. Finally, let us see what do we mean by the Church Triumphant? By the Church Tritunphant we mean the heavenly fellowship of those true Christians who already died and are in the presence of God. These blessed souls won a final victory with the help of Jesus over Satan, death and damnation. They are free of all sins, hypocrites can not be found among them and no enemy can harm them any more. The members of the heavenly Church Triumphant had been members of the Church
