The Mankato free press., 1909-09-03
PEOPLES PULPIT. !.
Spiritual Israel,
Then
Natural Israel.
Text, IF ye be Christ's then areye
Abraham's Seed. and heirs" (Gala-
tians iii, 2o).

Abraham's Seed, and heirs" (Gala-
ians III, 29).
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. -s-s-s-s.s-s.C
the Apostle sne.s...s 0f II, Inat they may
be "strong in the Lord and the power
of his might" that they might have or
the whole armour of Goti-helmet
breastplate, sandals, sword end shield
and be able to Quench the fiery dart!
of the Wicked One; able also to helI
the weaker ones in this day when the
Adversary is assaulting the Word OF
God, the citadel of the truth. with vari
Gus infidel arguments in the hands and
mouths of those who profess to be min
listers of the Word.
Need 1 quote the promise, the one sc
repeatedly referred to in the apostolic
writings, the one which is the basis OIL
anchorage for our souls?
The Apostle Paul referred to this
very promise, declaring that the Seed
of Abraham mentioned therein is
Christ All Christians agree to this
although they have not distinctively
and properly associated it with the
declarations Of the promise. But the
Apostle makes clear to us that in say.
ing that Christ is the Seed of Abra.
ham, he had in mind not only the Lord
Jesus as the Head of the Body, the
Head of the Christ, but also the over.
coming saints Of this Gospel Age as the
Body Of Christ. This he distinctly
states in many places, for instance
Galatians iii, 1920. Here he declares
the matter expressly, saying: IF ye be
Ckrist's. then are We Abraham's Seed
and heirs according to the promise"
'The Seed of Abraham" is the Cos
pei Church, with her Head, the Lord
Jesus; as the Apostle states again say
ing: "We, brethren, as Isaac was
(typified by Isaac. are the children
of PROMISE Galatians iv. 2S). 1t fol
lows that the Seed of Abraham men
toned in the promise is not complete
and will not be until the full close of
this Gospel Age-the harvest time of
which we believe we are now in.
But what a wonderful thought is in
volved in this plain Interpretation of
the Divine Word, 1t is big with hope
for Spiritual Israel, the Spiritual Seed
and no less, it means blessing for the
natural seed, f1eshly Israel. and ulti-
mately the millennial blessings to all
the families Of the earth. Let us ex-
anime these three hopes: The hopes for
these three classes center in this great
Oath-Bound Covenant. Let us thus
obtain what the Apostle tells us was the
Lords intention for us, namely, strong
consolation-strong encouragement.
All through the prophecies the Lord
foretold the sufferings of Christ and
the glories that should follow; never
theless the glories to follow have been
granted much more space in the Di-
vine Revelation than the sufferings of
the present time. The implication Sug-
gested by the Apostle is that when the
glories of the future shall be realized,
the trials and sufferings and Difficult
ties of the present time will be found
not worthy to be compared; but those
glories and blessings have been yelled
from our mental vision. and instead a
great pail hangs over the future in the
minds of many of the Lords people.
Distort Simple Language.
Many of us have learned to distOrt
the simple language Of Gods Word in
such a manner as to cause us anguish
and distress. For instance, destroy
'perish," "die," second death,' sever
lasting destruction" ETC., terms used
by the Lord to represent the ultimate,
complete annibilation of those who
will not come into harmony with him
after a full opportunity is granted
them, are interpreted to mean the re-
verse of what they say-life, preserva-
tion in torture, etc.
It is high time, dear friends, that
we should learn that Gods Book is
not the foundation of these horrible
nightmares which have afflicted us,
and which in the past hindered many
Of us from proper love and rever-
ence Of our Creator. 1t is high time
that we should take the explanation
which the Apostle gives us Of this
matter and of all the errors which as
sail poor humanity respecting the flu
ture. He says: 'The god of this world
has blinded the minds Of them that
believe not, lest the glorious light of
the goodness Of God, as it shines in
the face of Jesus Christ our Lord,
should shine into their hearts" Oh
Corinthians iv, ~. We cannot here
and now discuss this subject. but have
provided in the hands of the ushers,
some free pamphlets on "What Say the
Scriptures about Hell:" Should the
supply prove insufficient drop me a
postal-card and will cheerfully send
from Brooklyn what will satisfy both
your head and your heart.
Now what hope and interest has the
Church of Christ in this promise made
to Abraham? To us belongs the very
cream of the promise, 1.-The riches of
Gods grace" The promise implies
the greatness of the Seed of Abraham.
which Seed is Christ and the overcom-
ing Church. This greatness is so Won
derful as to be almost beyond human
comprehension. The overcomers of
| this Gospel Age who "make their call