The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-06-25

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hands of God, and all we can have to
do with it is to make such prepare
| ton of heart as would according to
| the divine terms, fit and prepare us
, for share in the ''better reSurrec-
! tion"-in the First resurrection"
| The real resurrection of the future is
our only hope of life beyond the tomb.
according to the Scriptures, but the
thought Of that resurrection is carried
forward and the word resurrected used
in figurative sense in respect to the
phenomenal change which may come
to those who hear the Lords voice in
the present time and are awakened
thereby. These may, through the OPP
GRAFTON Of their wills undergo such a
transformation, such a change. as is
well represented figuratively by the ex-
pressions, 'arise from the dead"
resurrection" etc.
Risen With Christ.
Thus the Apostle suggests, eff then
We be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above" (ColOssians
ii, y. Again he says, But if the
spirit of him that raised up Jesus from
the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his
spirit that dwelleth in you" Romans
viii, ID In this last text the Apostle
likens the great transformation of the
present life to resurrection from the
dead. and explains that none of us
could have such transformation of
character except as we should receive
the begetting of the holy Spirit, the
spirit of Christ That spirit-that holy
mind or disposition accepted by our
wills should rule in our mortal bodies,
however imperfect, however fallen,
however dead they may be to the per-
fectiOns and Righteousness in which
we We're created as race.
Because Christ died for human sins
flor the sins of the whole world"-
therefore eventually an awakening
from the dead will come to all man
kind. Thus it is written, ''The dead
shall hear the voice of the Son of God;
and they that hear obey shall live"
John V, 25). The masses of mankind
do not hear the voice Of the Lord at all
in the present life; many of them die
in infancy, and the majority are in
heathenism. The time when all such
shall hear will be during the Millen-
NAL Age. when all that are In their
graves shall hear the command Of the
Son Of Man and come forth-just as
Jesus at the door Of Lazarus tomb
commanded, Lazarus, come forth!
And he that was dead came forth"
AS the world is now counted dead from
Gods standpoint, so those in the Mil
lennial Age which come forth from
the tomb will still be dead in the sense
Of life, and not be thoroughly awake
Intellectually. They will come forth
from the tomb In order that they may
hear the voice Of God speaking peace
through Jesus Christ-infOrming them
that still they are sinners, and justly
condemned to death and extinction,
nevertheless God in mercy had provid-
ed redemption through Jesus, and
therefore they were awakened from
the tomb and caused to hear the mes
sage Of Gods grace.
Our text, however, is not describing
the future age, the Millennium, in
which the Lord will speak so force
and be awakened and come to
knowledge Of the truth. 1t is speak
ing of the present time when the god
Of this world, Satan, blinds the minds
and stops the hearing of all mankind
except a few. BLESSED are your eyes
for they see, and your ears for they
hear" The awakened ones of the
present time are expected to have new
desires, distinctly separate and apart
from those which control the world in
general, and these must be so strong
as to lead them to changed course
in life-to rise, to take a higher plane
Of thought and action than that of the
world in general. The desire to arise
must be their own desire, prompted by
the awakening which the Lord has
granted them.
Christ Their Light.
To those awakened ones who seek to
''arise from the dead" world comes
gradually the conviction that they
have undertaken the impossible thing
They find, as the Apostle expresses it,
To will is present with me, but how
to perform the law of God perfectly
/ do not find. This was the condition
of the Jews as a nation for more than
sixteen centuries, from the time the
Law was given at Mount Sinai until
Christ came and brought life and i'm
mortality to light through the gospel"
The Law awakened many of the Jews
to realization that they were in the
bonds of sin and death; 1t set before
them the perfect standard of the
divine law-love for God with all their
heart mind and strength, and love
for their neighbor as for themselves;
and promised them eternal life if they