The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-02-01

ut.a @1e ',aGusr 1e CeneiG holy --.
gels, and, at the farther end, the Lord |
himself, who spoke to him saying, 81
am the Lord God Of Abraham thy |
father, and the God of Isaac. I"
I am with thee and will keep thee in
all places WHITTIER thou goest, and will
bring thee again into this land; for I
will not leave thee until I have done !
that which have spoken to thee Of And
Jacob awaked out OF his sleep (great-
ly awed, and he said, Surely the Lord !,
is in this place. This is |
none other but the house of God. and
this is the gate of heaven" (Gen.
2S:1s-17D Then he set up the stone
which he had used for a pillow, as a |
memorial altar to the Lord. and poured
some olive oil upon it. representing it's
conservation. He then vowed faithful
ness to the Lord. Evidently the Incl
dent made a lasting impression upon
his mind and upon the nation of Israel
after him.
The Meaning Of the Vision.
Our Lord Jesus gave us the key to
that vision. showing that he himself is
the Ladder of communication between
heaven and earth, between God and
men. The angels ascending and de-
scending represent the intimacy of
communion between God and man
kind which shall ultimately be estab-
lished. The interests of humanity will
come before the Lord. and the blessing
of the Lord will come down upon man
kind. and thus will be fulfilled event
nally the glorious promise, the oath
bound Covenant, which God made with
Father Abraham, saying, Elm thy Seed
shall all the families of the earth be
blessed" That Ladder of Coumuni-
q certain class OF humanity is con-
cerned. But they are but little
flock
The communication between Christ
Is complete, as between the heavenly
Father and those who have been &C
cepted as the true Israel-spiritual Is
rael, typiied by Jacob What blessings
come to these while still in the wilder
ness journey! What fellowship they
are privileged to have with the Father
through the Son. Their angels do al
ways have access to the face of my
Father" And the blessings of the Lord
come direct to them; new every morn
ing, fresh every evening! "All things
work together for good to them as
New Creatures in Christ, whatever
may be their trials and diniculties &C
cording to the flesh. But alas! how
few OF these have the eye of faith.
which discerns in Jesus this link with
heaven, which satisfies their long
ings as nothing else could do" The
majority Of Christian people know but
little OF it. They have heard OF Jesus
and the redemption accomplished and
the blessing provided: but, busted by
the cares of this life and the deceitful-
ness of riches (sought whether gained
or mott. they are restrained. Their
eyes are held to earth. They see not
the vision for themselves, and when
Others tell of 1t, they can but family
realize 1t, and consider it mostly an
idle tale. Here again we see exem-
plif1ed the statement OF the Scriptures.
THE secret of che Lord is with them
that fear (reverence) him; and he will
show them his Covenant" PISA. IS: IA.
This was Jacobs attitude. He had
heard of Gods great covenant made
with his grandfather. He appreciated
1t greatly and discerned that his broth
er Esau did not appreciate 1t. Jacob
bought it OF his brother at the latter's
own estimation Of its value: then ned,
not because Esau valued the promise.
but because with it went the elder
sons portion of earthly goods. which
Esau coveted and which he feared ia
cob would claim, but which the latter
very willingly resigned forever. Jacob.
in thus preferring the things prom
Used OF the Lord to the earthly things,
typifed or represented the Church,
the Christ. the Israel of God.
evidences in Gods Mercy"
But there is still a larger view to
be had OF the significance Of the typi-
cal ladder which Jacob saw reaching
from earth to heaven. That ladder.
while primarily it represented Jesus,
represented also the Elect Church.
which God Is now selecting from man
kind The Scriptural declarations, tina
consecrated believers are branches IN
the Vine and members OF the Body OF
Christ, are not meaningless state
ments. For God gave Jesus to be the
Head over the Church. which is his
Body In this larger sense, that Je-
sus was the original Vine and that
during this Gospel Age branches have
enlarged that Vine. Jesus is the Lad
der. and his consecrated saints Of this
age are members OF II ako-rungs
of the ladder. we might say. The Lad
der. in this larger sense, has been in
process Of development throuEhout this
Gospel Are, and Is nearly completed.
It represents The Christ, the Media
tor of the New Covenant between God
and mankind. We are to recognize in
the Scriptures this wilderness in Gods
mercy. like the wilderness OF the sea-
We are to discern that cur Lord Jesus
who during this ago has done spe-
ctal work for believers. Will. during
the age to follow this. do broader
work for the world ct mankind. with
his OhnscA in assocaak4on- All the
hlAxsinkx o. God pEQmksl originaIly