The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-05-18

the good shall be victorious; in the
strife between the wheat and the
tares, the tares shall be burned up,
but the golden grains of wheat shall
be gathered into the garner. Evil is
transient, and shall pass away, while
the good shall remain and endure
throughout the ceaseless ages of
eternity. But salvation will not be
forced on any one. No man will be
saved against his will; it must be a
matter of choice, with each; it can
not be had without personal, individ-
ual effort.
Where right character is being
formed. We may say salvation is being
worked out. The man who is living
correct life, one of upright charac-
ter, is saved man; hei just such
man as God our heavenly Father
would have us all to be.
But this salvation or character
building can only be begun in this
life; it will not and cannot be COM
pleted in any case in this earthly
state. Becoming perfected is a
growth, it may be of thousands of
years. Many do not in this life take
the first step in the direction of build
ing right character, and none COM
plete it here. But all will begin
sometime, and ultimately attain or
reach complete holiness. This raw
material of human souls, in the plas-
tic hand of the potter, the great
worker God, shall be converted into
the finished product of perfect lives.
All rebellious spirits will be subdued,
and made willing, obedient subjects
of Christ's kingdom; for GAS / live
saith Lord, every knee shall bow to
me. and every tongue shall confess to
God," and "All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn unto the
Lord, and all the nations shall wor-
ship before him." This being so, why
should any defer the time of return
ing? 1t is not the part of wisdom to
do so; the longer we defer it, and the
farther we wander from our Fathers
house, the longer and more difficult
will be the return, as return we must,
sooner or later, because the Lord has
spoken it. have no more doubt of
this than have of my own existence.
Any other view means an outwitted,
defeated and disappointed God and
Christ. God says, "My son give me
thy heart" He asks or requires us
to do this, mot for his own but for our
good; he does it because he loves us,
and is seeking our welfare. He
knows that if we persist in going in
the rough and hard way of trans
gressors, he knows that we will find
only thorns and misery; he knows,
that what man sows, that shall he
also reap. "There is no peace saith
my God for the wicked; they are like
the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
continually casting up mire and dirt"
AS with the sea so is it with the wrong
doer, having the stings of remorse,
the torment and agony of fear, and
perpetual unrest. "The way of the
transgressor is hard" While of the
righteous it is said, "Great peace
have they who love Gods law" Wis-
dom's ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are paths of peace"
We also believe in the Fatherhood
of God and brotherhood of man; that
is, we believe God is the Infinite Fa-
Their of all souls and every man the
brother of all other men. Universal
lists have always taught and empha-
sized this, more perhaps than any
other people.
The Bible tells us that Christ
''came to bring life and Immortality
to light. Before his coming the
world was in darkness or ignorance,
concerning future life. IT'S true
prophets had foretold of time, when
one should come who would, "re-
move the veil that was spread over
all nations, and swallow up! death in
victory" But this was consumma-
ton yet to be realized an event which
prophets waited for, and sought but
never found" At that time the veil
was there, and to many NOW living it
is still there. To many even in this
Christian land of America, it is an
incredible thing that God should
raise the dead. One of the things
this church will work for, is the re-
moval from the minds of such persons
of this unbelief, and the darkness,
gloom and unhappiness caused by it.
And we will labor to spread and ex-
tend knowledge of this the true
God, who will destroy sin, bring in
righteousness, cause sorrow and sigh