The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-04-30

whereby we must. De saved. we
squfrm and twist in our reasonings in
trying to justify this course and are
still further harassed by the horrible
nightmare Of eternal torment, which
teaches that the heather not only do
not get eternal life in glory. but that
they do get eternal life in misery.
Alas, how true are the Lords words
through the Prophet, "Your covenant
with death shall be disannulled, and
your agreement with the grave shall
not stand. From the time that it
goeth forth it shall take you; for morn
ing by morning shall 1t, pass over, by
day and by night; and it shall be a
vexation only to understand the doc
trine" isaiah xviii, Is, 19).
The Plan of the Ages.
The key to the whole Mystery is
that God first selects from amongst
mankind a special class of those able
and willing to exercise faith in him.
to receive the Spirit of Christ, and to
demonstrate their loyalty by walking
in his steps. These, he tells us, he is
calling out of the world by what the
world calls the foolishness of preach
ing. These he is testing as respects
their faith and loyalty and using the
trials and oppositions of this present
time as chiseling processes and burrs
to shape and polish and prepare the
precious stones for their glorious set
ting In the heavenly hlnguom. nero
are not many of these altogether.
"Fear not, little flock; for it is the Fa-
theirs good pleasure to give you the
Kingdom" duke xii, 32). They are
being selected out of all denomina-
tons, kindreds and tongues, and
amongst them are not many great,
wise, noble or rich. They are chiefly
the poor of this world. rich in faith.
heirs of the Kingdom.
This "little flock" of Saints" this
"royal priesthood" with Christ their
Redeemer, their Lord, their Bride
groom, their Head, their Chief Priest.
are to constitute the Kings, Priests,
Judges, Rulers of the world of man
kind. Then in the age to follow this
one. in the Millennium, Gods time
shall come for dealing with mankind
as whole. In cooperation with the
Kingdom work will be the binding of
Satan and every evil influence amongst
men, and the letting loose of every
good influence and every helpful truth.
Thus the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God shall fill the whole earth.
as the waters cover the great deep.
This is Gods provision for the world
of mankind, whom he so loved. Not
merely for the saints. who already
have the hearing ear, the seeing eye.
and the appreciative heart. is Gods
loving provision, but for poor, de-
graded humanity, which, through GEN.
turtles of sin, has almost entirely lost
the image and likeness Of it's Creator.
The promise for these is that they
shall be privileged by resurrection
processes to return to full harmony
with the Lord and to repossess the
blessings and favors lost by Father
Adam when he sinned-blessings and
privileges redeemed for Adams race
through the merits Of our dear Re-
deemers sacrifice at Calvary.
Who will say that this Divine Plan,
outlined in the Bible, does not contain
the very essence of Divine wisdom and
loving provision best adapted to the
needs of our race? Belief in the Lord
Jesus, acceptance Of him, obedience to
the Divine law, will thus be the con-
ditions upon which mankind may be
recovered Would any other condi.
tions be safe or just or proper? Is
there any other way of arranging these
conditions which Gods wisdom and
justice provided and which his grace
reveals?
Believers Might Not Perish.
Notice how the various features Of
our text intermesh with each other,
like the cogs and pinions of well fit
ted machine! Let us get rid of the
wrong thought that so long has be-
logged our reason and robbed our
hearts of the proper reverence for our
Creator! Let us get rid of the thought
that perish means to preserre in eter-
nal torture, thus confusing the minds
of the Lords people and the world to
the true teachings of the Scriptures.
Perishing, Of course, means perishing
to lose life, to become extinct. Man,
originally made in Gods image, was
prepared for eternal life; that eternity
was to be his destiny. But sin for
feited those life-rights. He came un-
der a sentence of death-that he should
perish like the brute beasts. Hence,
his only hope of a future life is in the
Redeemer and the resurrection which
his sacrifice has secured.
Mans intelligence and higher organ
ism could avail him only on condition
that they would be used in harmony
with his Makers reasonable and just
requirements. Otherwise he must die
the death, as being even less worthy
of prolonged existence than the brute.
Note how our text points out that God
saw that in the race of Adam there
would be many who, if they under
stood the light and the Truth and had
it in contrast with the wrong, would
be glad to return to harmony with God
glad to accept of Christ and Restitu-
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