Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1909-09-11
Sermon by
CHARLES +.
RUSSELL
Pastor BROOKLYN
Tabernacle.

ANAObhAf ~ ~ 4 - t1fUAs Ds-A ilt AflFif
Students Convention which for sew
sral days has been In session at Sara
tOga Springs. n. v. decided to spend
It's closing days IN Brooklyn. that It
might be addressed there by Pastor
O. Il. Russell The Brooklyn Taber-
nacle proved insufficient In capacity
for this large body Of Bible Students;
hence the Brooklyn Academy of Music
was secured for the services Of the
day. Pastor Russell addressed the
Bible Students twice. We report one
Of his discourses, from the above text.
He said:
The Great Teacher said Of the lilies
Of the plain, "They toll not. neither do
they spin; aud yet say unto you. that
even Solomon In all his glory was not
arrnyed like one Of these" (Matthew vi,
28. 29). similarly we believe that In
heaven the angels are free from toll.
Divine power exercised In their inter
est makes toll unnecessary. He who
created the angels and made the lilies
h the same God by whose Omnlpotcnt
power we human beings came into ex-
istence. We are surrounded by condi-
tiOns which call for labor, toll aud
sweat OF face. as indicated IN our text.
why are these things so2 Why Is man
less favored by his Creator than the
angels and the lilies? The answer to
this query Is found IN Gods great
Book, the Bible. As Bible Students
the majority Of us know, OF course,
the answer 10 this query And yet II
tho question afresh.
remind you that the words OF our
text are Gods comment upon the con.
ditions which now obtain aud which
we're made necessary by mans disc.
bedlence and the terms OF his sen
tence. As originally created the con
ditlons OF sweat Of face and battling
with thorns and insects too numerous
to mention were not necessary and
were not imposed upon mankind. ON
the contrary. Adam was placed In
Paradise. I'm the Garden OF Eden.
whose every prospect was beautiful.
It's trees were fruitful. yielding a vRri.
ETY. and an abundance ~ life giving
fruit for the maintenance Of the king Of
earth and his queen. mother Eve. The
responsibilities OF the situation were
merely 20 dress. or keep, the garden
10 pluck It's fruits and 10 prune the
waste foliage tO Adams pleasement
Every necessity was provided as sure
ly as In the ease of the angels aud the
hlies. The great change which thrust
eur first parents from Paradise Is the
result Of "Original -dlsobedlence
10 God.
The basis OF the fall may be said TO
have been the temptation Of the ser.
Dent hut otherwise, too. we may say
that Il was the loss Of faith In God on
the part of Mother Eve. Had she prop
srly continued In faith aud trust. the
Tempter's suggestions Of dlsobedlence
would have been promptly rejected
His suggestion that the great Creator
Aad been prompted by selfish motives
IN forbidding the fruit Of one particu
nr kind OF tree should have been
promptly recognized as slander. And
the further suggestion that the God of
all Grace aud Truth lied 20 them aud
distorted the facts when he warned
that dis0bcdience would result In
ieath-this misrepresentation should
have been Indignantly resented But,
Rlasl Mother Eve had not yet reached
that degree ~ character development,
she succumhed TO the temptation.
crude as Il was Her desire for knowl,
elge ensnared her \ lesson to us IN
this connection l. that any knowledge
which may come tp rs as Bible stu
dents. or come 90 others along any
lines out OF accord with the Divine ties,
timony, would be costly knowledge In.
deed
"The Wage ef Sin is Death"
Tho result of the dlsobedIeuce might
have beou the smiuug uf our drst par
ents hy a thunderholt. but. with gra-
cious purposes, tod permitted them to
have what they undoubtedly preferred
death boy a dying process of cen
turtles. This gave Adam aud his pos.
tcrity contact with sin and rs pen
atty. The Divine object Ia 81 doing II
scrlptually declared 20 be that all
mankind might learn of the exceeding
amfulness OF sln." It's undesirahllity
aud the sureness OF its penalty death.
Had d not been Tor Gods intention by
aud by to send the Redeemer and to
pay man's death penalty, aud thus 10
make possible his reclamation from
death conditions by recreation proc
esses. our race might better have been
Instantly smltteu tO oblivion Ia our
nrst parents; and the Twenty Thou.
sand Millions Of Adams children might
better have remained unborn. How,
ever. the Bible clearly reveals that "as
BY man (Adam came death. even 50
hy man also Jesusl comes the resur-
rection OF the dead For as all Ia
Adam die, even so all In Christ shall
b. made alive, every man IA hls own
order" Il Corinthians Nv, 2i.23l
IIIn