The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-10-08

Woulu De ltS Mediator (Jeremlan XXI,
81.
The promise Of a New Covenant i'm
piled, as st. Paul points out, that God
knew that the Law Covenant would
not bring to Israel the hoped-for bless
ingS. Thenceforth their hopes CEN
tered in the New Covenant, under
which the Lord promised that he would
entirely blot out their sins and take
away their stony heart and give them
heart of desh and that they should
be his people. Confirmatory to this
thought was the message sent to them
through Malachi the prophet, assuring
them that the messenger Of the Cove
nant 0he servant of the Covenant, the
Mediator of the Covenant), whom they
delighted in the one they were hoping
for, would ere long, come to his peo-
pie. But the prophet intimated that
few Of them would be ready to receive
him. He said. "Who shall stand when
he appearethY'
The Lord crueified.
Expecting Messiah to appear in
very different way, Israel was unpre-
pared for the imam of sorrow and ac-
quainted with grief" "the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sin of the
world" They expected great gen.
eral, mighty leader, who would APP
peal TO the learned, the wealthy, the
noble. But our Lord appealed only
to those who were pure In heart, us.
raelites indeed" Such alone had the
necessary faith to recognize him and
receive him. The others crucified him,
clares, II wot that through ignorance
We did it, as did also your rulers. Ye
killed the Prince of life" (Acts ill,
15-1O. And st. Paul says, Had they
known it, they would not have cruel
fed the Lord of glory" q Corinthians
II, 81.
However our Lords crucifxion was
merely fulfillment of another feature
of the Divine Plan to make the bless
ing of all mankind the deeper and
broader.
By virtue of keeping the Law, Jesus
would have had the right to earthly
perfection for himself, eternal life and
happiness. He also would have been
heir of all the things that Adam pos
sessed and lost. He might, therefore,
have established an earthly empire
and, by wise laws and regulations, he
might have done much for human up
lift-the very thing which people today
are wanting to bring about. But MS
subjects would still have been under
the Divine condemnation of death. He
would merely have been the ruler, in
structor, of fallen, dying men. Gods
promise of blessing meant more than
this. And in harmony with it our Lord
Jesus did not keep his earthly rights,
but surrendered them, sacrificed them,
laid them down on our behalf. The
laying down of these earthly rights
was finished at Calvary. Since this
the Divine purpose, the Heavenly Fa-
Their rewarded the sacrificer with a new
life on higher plane. "far above an
gels and municipalities and powers"
Thus when Jesus was raised from
the dead on the third day he was no
taker of the Divine nature, far above
angels. More than this, he had his
earthly rights which he had sacrificed,
and these now constituted an asset or
thing of value which he possessed and
which he might bestow upon others.
10 lot Il hi nv-fh ,srrI, fe,f hot
he might receive life again on a high
plane and have a right to gice the sac
rifced earthly perfection, honors and
privileges to others. 1t was in this
manner that the Lord provided for the
blessing Of the world-"the blessing of
the Lord that maketh rich and to
which he addeth no sorrow" Though
the blessings have not yet come to the
world, as we have seen, the founda-
ton has already been laid in the re-
demptive work accomplished at Cal
vary.
We cannot in this discourse trace the
blessing to it's conclusion. But know
ing that our discourses weekly reach
about seven million readers we shall
hope to address the majority Of you
through the public prints week
hence. We hope then to show how
the Lord has promised that his bless
ing under the Abrahamic Covenant
and through the nation Of Israel and
through the mediatorial work Of Christ
is yet to bring blessings to every men,
Der Of Adams race-an opportunity for
obtaining life eternal. Meantime let
us all assure our hearts of the truth
fulness Of the promise, that the bless
ing of the Lord maketh rich and that
he addeth no sorrow Herewith. Any
sorrows that come to us are earthborn
and not of the Lord and may be over
come; so thai eventually we may be
Of the mighty most who in heaven and
In earth and under the earth will be
heard giving ''praise and honor to Him
who stitch on the Throne and unto
the Lamb" Revelation v. 49,.