The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-05-20


Nor are these people wicked or immor.
meaning as ever, but have lost their
way. They reject the Bible because
they believe It to be the tour1dtion OF
the various Inconsistencies In their
crecds; they are stumbling for lack of
knowledge; they cannot believe that
mans hereafter is one of centuries OF
suffering, or OF eternal suffering
Seeking tho Old Paths.
The Lord, through the Prophet Jere-
miah, tells his people to Inquire for
the old paths" and this is the appre-
pirate lesson for each OF us. We do,
indeed, need to discard the crecds Of
the past, not because they contain
nothing of truth, but because error
Comminglcs in them to such n degree
as to make them pervcrsions OF truth
as n whole We need to take off the
crecdal spectacles with which we have
hitherto been studying Gods Word,
and come to the Bible afrcSh, to hear
its message. Thus coming, many OF
us have been surprised as we have
found its purity and consistency and
harmony with itself. We.have already
intimatcd the Bible view OF mans
death sentence, and the Bible presen-
tation that Christ died for our redemp-
ton. and the Bible assurance that as
consequence, in due time" the
knowledge of the glory Of God shall
fill the whole earth" We have also
the Bible assurance that not merely
the living will profit by the provision
OF Gods grace, but that "all that are
in their graves shall come forth" to
share in and to be blessed by the IA
vorabe conditions which God will by
and by inaugurate.
The Bible declares that the penalty
for sin is being experienced by hui
mainly at the present time-the death
penalty-and that the redemption price
of ChriSt's death is sufficient for the
sins OF the whole world. 1t declares
that on account of this redemption,
ultimately the resurrection of the dead
shall take pace-"all that are in their
graves shall hear the voice of the Son
cause OF the Divine intention that
there shall be Il resurrection OF the
dead that the Bible everywhere, both
in the Old and New Testaments, speaks
of those who have died, both good and
bad, as being asleep" and the prom
Use is that They that sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake"
Nor will they come forth to similar
conditions of sorrow that now sur
round us all. On the contrary, the
First Resurrection Is to be composed
of the holy. the sanity, and they are
to be associated with their Redeemer
as his Bride and Consort, to assist in
delivering and restoring mankind.
Later the imperfect. who have not had
their full trial, the great mass of man
kind, will be brought forth, that they
may learn the ways of righteousness,
that they may learn to know God, and
Jesus Christ, and in due time be up
lifted out Of the conditions of sin and
death. Then will come the time men
toned in our text, The Hereafter for
the world. How joyful is the mes
sage, There shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, nor dying;
for the former things have passed
away" All, how different is Gods
proposition OF general uplift of the
worthy and their assistance back to
perfection-to all that was lost in
Adam. How different is this from the
doctrines Of demons" which have
MOI NlnN nI oh, InN a ty.;I NI
the Church of Christ into numberless
sects and parties, and which have al
most driven us from Christ and the
Bible.
Life, Not Immortality.
Thus we see that Gods provision in
Christ for mankind is that each indi-
vidual member of our race may yet, il
he will, attain to everlasting life
through the merit OF Christ's sacrifice,
and through the operation OF his King
dom. Each may attain to all that was
lost in Adam and redeemed at Cal
vary; namely, human perfection and
Edenic blessedness. But additionally,
note the blessings which God has pro-
vided for the Church--a spiritual bless
ing, change Of nature. These are
called out now from amongst men,
that they "niight be a kind Of first
fruits unto God Of his creatures"
Games /, 49,. These are to be royal
priesthood" associated with Christ,
now in the priestly work Of sacrificing,
presenting their bodies living sacri-
fees, holy and acceptable to God.
which is their reasonable service. And
when the sacrificing shall be finished.
they are to be joined with Christ in
the glories of his Kingdom, and share
with him in the work of blessing man
kind. These are the "elect" who, in
Gods providence. shall by and by up
lift and bless the nOn-eleCt. These are
the ones to whom will come the prom
lsed "Glory. honor and immortality"
Our Redeemer brought to light, life
| eternal for the world, and he also
brought to light immortality for the
Church.
Let us then be glad and rejoice in
the Hereafter" that God has provid-