The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-02-28

destiny can be settled only by ourselves
| by our lndi. idual acceptance or rejection
! of the grace of God. The Scriptures
clearly inform us that every sin, in pro-
| portion to its wilfuiness brings a measure
| Of degradation which involves stripes
! chastiSemcnls. corrections, to REGAIN the
! lost standing. Thus the more mean and
more wicked Il man or woman may he,
| the greater viii he his or her disadvantage
| Nlll then have to overcome. 10 Get hac X
| to all that WAS lost in Adam and redeemed
| by Christ.
AND THE DEAD CAME FORTH
= At his first advent our Lord miracles
)tolcstladowed the great work which he.
with his gloriiied Church. will accomplish
for the world during the Millennium
then all the sick, lame, blind and dead
will be revived and, if obcGient. will be
brought ultimately to full perfection
The disobedient will be destroyed in the
Second Death. The most notable miracle
which our Lord performed was the
awakening of Lazarus, his friend.
He was glad to let his friend fall asleep
In death, because it would provide a
special opportunity for special miracle.
Then, with his disciples, he began the
three days journey to Bethany. We
cannot blame the Borrowing sisters that
they felt hurt that the Messiah should
apparently be obivious Of their anxiety,
while they knew that he had the power to
relieve them Martha's gentle rcproof
was, Lord. ii thou hldst been here, my
brother had not died Jesus saith unto
her. Thy brother shall rise again
Martha saith unto him, | know that he
shall rise again III the resurrection at the
last day" (.'ohf - %, "a Notice that
our Lord did not say, lhy brother Is not
dead; thy brother is more alive than he
ever was; heis in hcavenOr III ptirgatory-
Nothing of the kind Ptugatory had not
yet been invented, and he knew nothing
OF it. And rs for heaven. our Lords
testimony is In our text, No man hath
assembled into heaven, but he that came
down from heaven" Martha also was
we'll informed. The errors of the dark
ages had not yet supplanted the Truth.
Her hope for her brother was the Scrip
turai one; that ne would rise in the
resurrection in the last day, the Millen-
NAL Day. the seventh Of the great
thousand-yesr days from creation.
ALL THAT ARE IN THE GRAVES"
What Jesus did for Lazarus he in
tjmated he would ultimately do for Adam
and his entire race Note his words,
The hour is coming, in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice, and
shall come forth" John 5:28. 29) Does
this astonish US? If 50, the reason is not
far to seek. It is because 1e' have gotter
SO far away from the teachings of the
Bible, so fuzzy immersed in the doctrines
of devils. so fully to believe in the ser
pent's lie, "Ye shall not surely die
50 blinded to the Lord S declaration, "Ye
shall surely dir" anc' THE wages Of siIs
is death"
The remainder Of John 500 explains
that there wis be two general classes Of
the dead to come forth The first, those
who have had their trial. and who have
passed it successfully; the second, all the
Of mankind who have thus far
fa3ed to have Divine approval The ap-
proved will corse forth from the tomb
unto a. resurrection of Interpretation.
The disapproved will come forth unto .
Of judgment (see revised
The corning forth is one thing.
The resurrection is another The Apostle !
explains that a,ey will coma forth. |
every man in his own order" q Cor. |
Is 23) On thus being awakened the.
privilege will be theirs OF rising up, up.
up cut of present, degradation. mental.
moral, physical, to the glorious perfection !
which father Adam enjoyed in ths'image'
and likeness Of his Creator. The uplifting
or resurrection work st. Peter refers to as
the Restitution Of all things, which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy !
since the world began. Acts |
5:2i.
More does this mean universal evsrlast-- |
ing life. for the Scriptures dsclsne that
such as refuse to profit by the glorious
of the Millennium; such as
refuse to be upl.ftsd to perfection, shall
be destroyed from amongst the psople in
the Second Death-"Thsy shall be as
though they had not been" (Obad. 16) !
| remind you az ain of our Lords teaching
On this subject He entere.i:the synagogue,
at Capernaum md, being asked to read
the lesson, he chose Isaiah the ssxty-first
chapter and read respecting himself and
his work-that Il part os it would be 'to,
open the prisoa doors and set aa liberty
the captives." We are ell aware that our
Lord did not open ANY of the little.
prisons, such as John the Baptist Was
confined in. He made 40 effort to suce0r
him The psison-house~ which it is de-
signed that he shall epen is the great
prison house. the tomb. which now holds
twenty thousand millions
Of our race At his second advent our
Lord will open this great prison house
and allow all the prisoners to come forth,
Just as truly as he did in the example
In the case Of lazarus Nor will he call
them from heaven, purgatory and hell,
but, just as be declared, Lazarus, come
forth" all that are in thesr graves shall
hear his voice and come forth"
PRESENT YOUR BODIES SACRIFICES.
Just q closing word! Our subject would
lack a proper finish ii we did not explain
Scripturally why God has delayed the
worlds blessing. the resurrection, nearly
two thousand years since the death OF
Jesus. The reason is such a glorious one!
1t must appeal to every true Christian
heart and make it glad. 1t is this:
God purposed the selection of the