The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-08-13

| concerned. was deferred, while Spir-
! itual Israel of which they had no
previous intimation, was called. tested,
and glorifed. To Israel it would ap-
pear as though God had broken his
| Covenant with that nation. the nat
ural seed of Abraham; matter which
they could not consider possible, in
view of the fact that the original Gov
enant was bounden by the Lords
| oath.
| Yea. how wonderful. When we come
| to see into the matter properly, we
| perceive that Israel and the world
could not have obtained their earthly
/ blessings otherwise. 1T was neceS-
sary that the Christ should suffer
and should enter into his glory" on the
! heavenly plane-the Head-and then
his foreknown Members. Thus the
prophets have foretold the sufferings
of The Christ, which have now lasted
for nearly nineteen hundred years,
and the glory that should follow-the
Millennial glory. q Peter j. ID Our
Lord Jesus. holy, harmless, undetiled,
separate from sinners (and yet
through his mother member of our
race, by his obedience to the Divine
Law. became heir of all things-all
things which Father Adam had once
possessed and had lost by his dis
obedience-earthly life under perfect
! or Paradisaical conditions. everlasting
life. the rulership of earth. etc.
l
| But instead of keeping these earthly
blessings to himself. Messiah, in har-
mony with the Fathers plan. sacri-
feed them. giving his life and all that
pertained to human nature as Ran
! and all their earthly rights When
our Lord had finished his sacrifice and
assembled up on high. he applied the
merit of it to the household of faith
to all who trusted and obeyed him.
| What he gave to believers was the
earthly rights which were lost by
! Adam and which he had purchased.
But in order to become members of
| his Body, these believers were re-
! CURED to sacrifice the earthly inter
eSts and rights which they received by
justification. This they have been do
ing for the nineteen centuries of this
| Gospel Age. Soon the last member
of the predestined number, having ac-
| quired the Divine likeness, having con-
secrated all their earthly interests, and
having been accepted Of the Father,
will have finished their share in the
/ sacrifice of Christine suffering of
| Christ" q Peter j, II; COlossians j, 24)
The New (Law) Covenant.
The Law Covenant which God made
with Israel, of which Moses was the
mediator, st. Paul points out was an
unsatisfactory one; not because the
Law was bad, for it was perfect; not
because the Divine proposition or Gov
enant connected with it was bad, for
/ it offered eternal life to whoever
would keep the Law. The difficulty
| lay in the fact that the Jews, like the
remainder of the world, were imper-
feet, fallen, and unable to keep the
Covenant. unable to fulfil the require
ments of the Law. Hence, says ST.
| Paul, "By the deeds of the Law shall
| no flesh be justified in Gods sight
! Romans iii. 20).
| God, however, assured Israel that al
some time in the future he would
make with them a New Uaw) Cove.
nant, which would be more satiSfac-
tory, and yield the desired results
Jeremiah XXI, 81; that he would take
| away their stony hearts Not give
| them spiritual hearts, not make them
new creatures but give them
hearts of f1esh'); that at that time he
would write the Law in their hearts
Is it asked how the New Uaw) Cove
nant would differ from the old one
and how it could bless them, when
the old Law Covenant merely brought
upon them sentence of death? The
answer is given by the Apostle that
| the Covenant will be practically the
samoa Covenant to give them eter-
nal life on condition of obedience to
| the law; but difference will consist
| in the fact that the Mediator of the
| New Uaw) Covenant will be more
capable than was the mediator OF the
| old Law Covenant. Not that Moses
was unfaithful, nor that he did not
do his best to assist the people. but
because the new Mediator, Christ
having "died, the just for the un-
just" has a residue of merit at his
disposal sufficient to make good to JUS
tice for the unwilling defects Of Adam
and all his race. In this way the New
| Oaw) Covenant will be much more
effective to Israel than the old one was
Thus the work of the glorifed Christ
| during the Millennial Age will accom-
| plish much more for Israel and fol
! the world than could possibly be done
along the lines of simple faith such as
/ Abraham exercised, and such as the
household OF faith now must exercise
| Tie Inauguration of the Millennia
! Kingdom, the subduing of sin and Of
| Satan, the releasing Of mankind from
| the bondage of sin and death, the
opening of the blind eyes and the I'm
stopping of the deaf ears, will enable
the world practically to walk by sight
| and to come TO an accurate knowledge
| of the Truth, instead of merely faitl
knowledge. Thus many of Adam:
children will be helped under the New
| Oaw) Covenant arrangement who
| could not have been helped under the
! original Covenant without this added