The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-08-06

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swallowed up by it. The Scriptures
describe the six thousand years Of
earths history as a period of the
"reign of Sin and Death" 1t is con-
servatively estimated that death has
swallowed up twenty thousand mil
| lions Of humanity, and that ninety
thousand are going to the tomb every
| day. The Lord tells us through the
Prophet that with the establishment
| of his Kingdom will come a wonder
| full change: instead of death cOntin-
| uing to swallow up the race, dying
| shall cease. None shall die then ex-
| cept for acilfal san. How glorious a
| time that will be! All of our sorrows
| are more or less intimately associated
with "the reign Of Sin and Death"
How we may well rejoice in the new
| dispensation which divine wisdom has
| planned and divine love will execute
| for the releasing of our race from this
| dying process-from this bondage OF
| corruption; permitting them to return
to the liberty of the sons of God. free
dom from death, freedom from sin.
|
Lord purposes that he will not mere
| ly restrain the power Of death, so that
| it shall cease swallowing up our race,
| but additionally he purposes that he
| will swallow up Death in victory"
| The tomb, which figuratively has en-
| gorged itself with twenty thousand
| millions, will be forced to disgorge, to
~ A 81,
| their graves shall hear the voice Of
! the Son of Man and come forth" The
| sanity few whose faithfulness to God
| has already been tested will come
| forth to the perfection Of life. The
insanity masses, the majority of
| whom have never known God truly,
| will come forth to the resurrection OF
trial, Of judgment, of discipline. Death
| itself shall be destroyed.
| st. Paul quotes from the Prophet
! Hosea, saying, 80 death, where is thy
| sting? grave, where is thy vic
| tory?" He does not quote this as ap-
| plicable now, for Sin and Death still
have their victory in the world. Thou
| sands are still slaves Of sin, and mil
| lions are still bounden by the power
| Of the tomb. st. Paul and the Prophet
| pointed down to the glorious epoch Of
the Millennial Kingdom following the
| resurrection change of the church,
| when all shall be brought to a knowl-
edge of the truth, from the least to
| the greatest; and when all that are
in the prison-house Of death shall
| come forth, because Jesus has redeem
| ed every member Of our race from the
| power Of the tomb.
| Wipe All Tears Away.
| We remember our Redeemer's tender
words, "Come unto me all We that
labor and are heavy laden, and l will
| give you rest" Those of us who have
accepted his gracious invitation, and
obtained from him the rest Of faith,
found that it meant to us the wiping
| away Of our tears, the cancellation in
large degree Of our troubles. We,
| then, should be able to understand the
! next statement of the Prophet in our
text, 'The Lord God will wipe away
! tears from off all faces" 1t is the
same message given to us in Revela-
ton, where the same Kingdom, under
the figure Of the New Jerusalem, is
| brought to our attention. It will be
| the Heavenly Father who will wipe
away the tears, not directly but indi-
rectly through his Son, the Redeemer.
| More and more as we come to an un-
| derstanding Of the grace of God, as
| illustrated in his divine plan of the
ages, we come to realize that call
things are Of the Father and all things
| are by the Son"-that the two, while
| distinctly separate, are also distinctly
one in love, in sympathy, and in CO.
| operating in the work of relief which
has already begun in the Church, and
which ultimately is to extend to the
| world during the Millennium
Tears are the marks of sorrow, pain,
| suffering; and the poetic statement
that God himself will wipe away the
| tears of mankind is a beautiful and
| forceful suggestion Of how the po,oer of
the Highest is shortly to be employed,
| not in the eternal torment of the world.
| but in its blessing, its uplifting, the
| wiping away of its tears and sorrows.
When we remember that there are no
| tears in heaven, and that the joys of
| that blessed state are because of its
Sinlessness, our hearts overflow with
| thanksgiving as we catch the poetic
| thought included in the assurance
| that all sin, and all sorrow as the re-
suit Of sin, and all tears and marks of
sorrow, will forever pass away in that
happy day. Truly we may be glad and
rejoice and give honor to our God as
we see his righteous dealings with our
race manifested-as the clouds and
shadows flee away and permit the sun
shine of divine love and grace to take
their proper places before the eyes of
our understanding.
Let no one imagine that this signifies
universal salvation. Other Scriptures
| show US that while universal oppor-
tunity for salvation will be accorded,
| none except those who avail them
selves Of it by hearty acceptance of
the Divine arrangement, and a hearty
obedience to the laws of the Kingdom
these only will get the great blessing
| of life eternal; only their tears will
forever be wiped away. All others,
wilful sinners, will be destroyed in the