The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-07-23

FlSuC udllu SudIi tedCu tuec tcIiiDic
things. Thine arrows are sharp in the
heart of the Kings enemies; whereby
the people fall under thee" psalm
xiv, 80. Instead of the word ''people"
here, read the word ''heathen" as in
the original, and we have a picture Of
the conversion of the heather as it
will shortly be accomplished. We are
not to suppose the Lord will ride upon
a horse, nor that literal arrows will lit
orally pierce the hearts of his enemies.
We are to understand this picture to
signify our Lords triumphal conquer
ing of the world, and that the arrows
of truth which will go forth unto the
whole world will reach the hearts of
men. and smite them down. Even SO
we read that when st. Peter preached
at PentecoSt that the Jews had taken
and crucified the Son of God, the
hearers were cut to the heart with the
lance of truth. Thank God for such
arrows from the culver of Divine wis
dom, justice. love. We rejoice that the
heather will thus be conquered for the
Lord, and thus eventually every knee
bow and every tongue confess.
This work of dealing with the heath
en-, with the world, with all except the
Church, will begin with the generation
living at the time of the establishment
of the Lords Kingdom. In due time
it will proceed and ultimately include
all that are in their graves, in the re-
verse order from that which they en-
tered. and the last shall be the first to
come forth-'every man in his own or
der" or class.
Too frequently do Bible students neg
lect to see whether or not their inter-
pretations are in harmony with the
context Of the passages under discus
sion. Let us not make this mistake.
Turning to the second Psalm, we find
that, following our text and a part
with it, is the declaration, "Thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron; thou
shalt dash them in pieces like a pot
ter's vessel (verse 81. The application
of this evidently is to the time for our
Lords second advent, when the selec-
tion of the Church shall be completed.
and she shall have entered into his
glory as the Bride, the Lambs Wife,
symbOlically pictured in the New Jeru-
salem from God out of heaven. From
that New Jerusalem we are told that
the river of the water of life shall
flow freely, and that whatsoever will
may partake Of it freely-all that are
athirst. On either bank will grow the.
trees of life, whose leaves are for the
healing of the nations. And the Spirit
and the Bride will say Come, and who
soever will may come and take of the
water Of life freely. But meantime.
before the nations, the world, will be
ready for that blessing from the New
Jerusalem. they must needs pass
through a period of very deep humilia-
tion-'a time of trouble such as neuer
teas since there ,Oas q nation"
AS for the nations of that time, the
extent to which they will suffer de-
struction will depend largely on their
own attitude, as is intimated by the
verses following our text. Those of
the nations who freely and heartily
accept of Messiah's rule will be CORE
spondingly saved from the breaking
process. Hence it is urged, kiss the
Son, o We kings of the earth; kiss the
Son lest he be angry with you and We
perish from the way, when his wrath
is kindled but a little.' But while
this seems to offer leniency, mercy,
these favors are conditional on the
in which the Messianic King
dom shall be received. Other Scrip
lures seem to intimate that all the
nations, not only heather but civil
lized. will be found in violent opposi-
ton to the heavenly Kingdom. and
hence that all together they will be
crushed as the vessels of a potter.
The Glorious Outcome.
The Lord tells us that as the heay-
ems are higher than the earth, so arc
his ways higher than mans ways,
his plans higher tLan mans pli.n
And this we find true as we
to better understand the S~r:mlrcs
Who ever dreamed of such Ter !,
and breadths and heights APP is
Of love divine. all love exc ..lg. as
are implied and included in Gods
great plan of selecting, first the Christ
Jesus the Head and the Church. His
Body-and then through these bless
ing all the families of the earth with
a knowledge of Himself and the glori-
Gus opportunities for life eternal! We
make no claims of universal sal, alton.
because the Scriptures do not author
ize this. but distinctly speak of some
who will die the Second Death. prov
ing themselves not sufficiently in har-
mony with righteousness to be worthy
of eternal kfe-even after being
brought to a knowledge of the Truth.
But the Scriptures do show us that
when all the unwilling and ~disobedient
shall have been cut off in the Second
Death, then the whole earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of the glory
of God, and every creature in heaven.
and in earth. and under the earth,
shall be heard acclaiming praise, hon
or, glory, dominion, and might, to him
that stitch upon the throne, and to
the Lamb forever. And he upon the
throne declares, Behold, / make all
things new. And there shall be no
more signing, and no more crying,
and nc more dying, for the former
things shall have passed away (Rev-
elation xxi, 1-5). !