Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1908-05-08
throne of power on earth. He is tho

throne OF power on earth. He Is tho
vice-gerent Of the absent King. His
work Is to take out from the Gentiles
a people for His name (Acts xv:14)
He is gathering the bride and making
her ready for the coming of the Bride
groom. The Greek word translated
church" means "called out" The
members of the church are therefore
the called out" ones. 1t is clear as a
sunbeam that the mission of the Holy
Spirit is not to convert the world be-
fore Christ shall return. If such is His
mission, it is a stupendous failure, but
we believe that the Holy Spirit is not
failing any more than Christ failed in
His mission upon the earth. The Spirit
is doing just the work for which He
came. This Gospel of the kingdom"
says Jesus, shall be preached in all
the world for a witness unto all ma
tions, and then shall the end come"
Matt. xiv :14). He does not say that
the world shall be converted to Christ,
and then shall the end come. The Cos
pei is to be preached for a Witness 1t
is not surface work. Then shall the
consummation come, not when the
world Is converted, but when the Cos
pei shall have been preached In the
whole world for a witness.
We are often asked, "Is the world
growing better or worse?" Our answer
is, "Yes and no." The good is growing
better and the bad is growing worse
The real church of Christ was never
better than 1t is to-day, and the world
that rejects Jesus was never worse.
There is more light now than ever be-
fore, and those who reject the light
are hardened by the process. Light Is
"a SAVIOR of life unto life," or Of death
unto death. The bad In the world that
spurns the light will wax worse and
worse, while the good that receives the
light will grow better and better.
In l Thes. iv :16, II, we read: "The
Lord Himself shall descend from heav-
en- with shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trump Of God;
and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord In the
air." From this Scripture it seems
that when Christ shall come for His
people He will not touch the earth.
Like a great magnet He will draw
those who love Him up TO Himself
while those who do not love Him will
remain upon the earth. The dead In
Christ shall rise and shall be the first
to meet Him in the air.
This seems to be the first resurrec-
ton. THE rest of the dead" we arc
told In Revelation xx:5, ''llve not
again until the thousand years are fin-
ished." BLESSED and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection" Ev-
identity Paul had in mind this resur-
rection when he said, II count all
things but loss" etc, IF by any means
l may attain unto the resurrection of
the dead" An original translation
would be, Unto the out-resurrection
from among the dead" There Is not
at this time to be resurrection Of all
the dead, but of the righteous from
among the dead. In Luke Xxx :35 we
have the clear declaration.
| Let us remember that our salvation
does not depend upon what we think
about the second coming of our Lord.
The first coming is the test. Do we be-
| lieve in the Lamb of God, the Savior
who died and rose again that we may
be saved from sin and live in righteous
ness? Nevertheless, the blessed hope
that Christ may come at any time has
a good effect upon our lives. EVERY
one that hath this hope in him purifeth
himself even as he Is pure"