Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-10-05

THE BLESSING OF THE LORD, 1T MAX.
ETH RICH; AND HE ADDETH NO SORROW
THEREWI144." Prov, lO:22. -
Pastor Russell. of Brooklyn tabernacle. preach
cd yesterday on the above text He said:
Looking about us in the world we flna anuna,
that Instead of the Divine blessing resting upon
the earth there is curse" or blight upon II.
Accordingly ST. Paul wrote The whole creation
groaneth and travalleth in pain together" IN
the context he declares the relief from this
grnanine Conditon--out of the bondage OF cor
rurtiop into the liberty, favor and Dressing 10
follow. He indicates that this blessed "cnange
will through the manifestation of the
sons OF GOD and lntimateg also thst Eesg sViS
of God are row being called and VIII shortV
be "glcrificd" and thus be empowered to 10
III" work of blessing for the grooming creation,
relieving tkem Of the burden of sin and death.
stu the question arises Why should humanity
be differently circumstanced from the angels!
Why should not holiness and purity and tree
dom from sorrows and pain aud death prevail
on earth well IN heaven; Why should the
great Creator so differently condition one branch
of mis- creation from the other? True, me Lord
prayer tells us that we may expect ultimately
that Divine power Will intervene ana succor
humanity. The declaration, "fhy Kingdom
come; thy will be done earth as IL is done
in heaven" is more than prayer; because ut
tered by our Lord IT is also prophecy or what
will ultimately obtain. But the question Is
Why SHOULD 1T be necessary for us 10 pray ano
to wait to subdue sin and TO lift mankind out
Of evil conditions? Why should not Gods will
have been done on earth all along as ii is done
! in heaven: Why have sin and death been per-
, mitted to reign" the Scriptures declare?
THY WORD is TRUTH
The Bible alone answers our query. 1t eX-
plains that originally our race was created per-
feet, in the image of Cod sinless, holy, pure
happy. Mans Eden home was Paradise, the
Garden Of God. But all that bliss was lost
through dlsobedlence to the Divine command
When the death sentence came upon rather Auan
he lost fellowship with his Creator his Eden
home. his perpetual life and, instead or tue
Irvine provision, was sentenced to earn his bread
by the sweat Of his face. battling with thorns
thistles and insects. The Bible does not pretend
n hat NfnY1G hn HON nstV
perfect that they are satisfactory to
God, nor that they should be satisfactory to us
The extreme oppostes of the home in Eden
the drouth, cyclone tempest and flood belong
TO the unfit condition of the earth are intended
lY the Lord to serve as part OF mans condem
nation. Through sickness disease, sorrow. pam,
dying, the race will ne brought eventually 10
deqth-to destruction. Thank God he has over
ruled that feature OF the sentence so that dealt
10 need not mean destruction. mus II IS
written, ''Thou tUrnest man to destruction. and
sayest, Return, we children Of men.'-Psalms.
The turning Of man to destruction was BOUy
years ago. and, although the blessing OF resrI-
tuition was declared from the very first by all
the holy prophets, nevertheless the return was
not made actually possible until the Kedeemer
came and laid down his life the ransom price
for the sins of the whole world. long while
did God wait before sending the Redeemer. More
than 1000 years passed, and for long period
He has waited since then before erecting a
deliverance of humanity from sin and death
nearly 10 centuries. This deliberate slowness on
human family and its rescue from sin and death
can only be understood fromsOne standpoint-the
Bible standpoint. The Bible, contrary TO orr
creeds formulated In the dark ages, teaches that
the penalty for sin is not a future torment, nut
q present experience with sin and death under
the sentence, Dying thou shalt die In othel
words, our present accurseu or condemned, un
favorable condition as race is Gods just
penalty against us as sinners.
We are race of convicts, and the conditions
of nature divineiy arranged with a view to
speeding up onward 10 the tomb-to the fulfill
ment of our Course" or sentence-death. In
other words all the mental unbalance and dis
tress, including insanity, imbecility and cross
temper, are elements OF death-the results of
death working In as a race; likewise our
moral DETECTION. We were born in sin and
shapen in iniquity; in sin did our mothers con-
ceive u.s." Phrenology, as well as physiology,
shows clearly these facts. The misshapen heads
! indicate the unbalance in which we were born
and the scriptures declare that we are prone
to sin. disposed to SIM as the sparks are 20 fly
! upward" In view Of these things how distinct
" Gods Word is corrohOrated, and In COMPARE
son with this just manifestation of indignation
of God against sin, how unreasonable and unsat-
isfactory the various theories that came
down to us from 1.-THE dark ages" unsupported
by the Word OF Cod teaching that our whole
race was born under an original condemnation
ones saved would be the few grasped by divine
favor during this gospel age and lifted from re-
lationship to the world and transformed into
saints. 1t is true enough that he IS5le teaches
that God has a special reward for those who
love Him supremely-more than self, houses,
lands or any other creature. True 1t is indeed
that He has for these Exceeding great and
precious blessings; but II is quite untrue, as
1t would be quite ungodly, that our Creator
should either by predestination or through lack
of knowledge or for any other reason cOnsign
our race as a whole, either to centuries of SUI
fering in Purgatory, some declare, or to still