Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1910-07-12

of the poor grooming creation the Di.
vine program shines resplendently,
showing us that the Redeemer and his
Church will for a thousand years be
engaged in a missionary work of the
sublimest and most gigantic character
"a work not only for living remnant
of the race. but one which will IN
clude in its blessing all the thousands
of millions of humanity under the Di-
vine sentence. THE wages of sin is
death" Truly the Scriptures declare,
AS the heavens are higher than the
earth. SO are Gods ways higher than
mans ways and Gods plans loftier
than mans conceptions.
Notice next the context. st. Paul.
after mentioning Christ as the Head
of the Body. the Church, who is the
irst-begotten. the first born from the
the pre-eminence. adds, For it pleased
the Father that In him should all full
ness dwell" and that (after) having
made peace through the blood Of his
cross by him to reconcile all things
unto himself-both the things in earth
and things in heaven" (Colossians /,
| 1920. The Apostle indicates the great
scope of Christ's work as 1t shah be
eventually when finished. He is APP
pointed of the Father to establish peace
| and righteousness throughout the Uni
verse But he has not yet accom-
plished all of this. He has only begun.
| He has died for the sins of the world,
as we'll as for the sins of the Church.
| But he has not yet offered to Justice
the satisfaction for the worlds sins:
He first appears before God as the
great Advocate for the elect Church,
'called" of God in advance to be 'the
Bride, the Lambs Wife" Note how
the Apostle expresses this thought in
our text. verse 81.
The Church First Reconciied.
"And you. that were sometime
alienated, and enemies In your mind
by wicked works. yet now hath, he
reconciled in the body of his flesh
through death. to present you holy and
unblamable and unreprovable in his
| (the Fathers) sight, if We continue in
the faith" etc.
| Who are these and why are they
reconciled in advance of the remainder
! of the world-brought in advance into
| fellowship with the Father by the Re,
deemer as his Bride? These were by
nature children of wrath even as
| Others" By nature they were alien
ated and enemies in their mind by
wicked works. They were unlike the
| Redeemer, who was holy. harmless
and undefiled and separate from sim
| ners." Why then did Gods grace
| specially come to this classic us who
are of the Church of Christ. accepted
! in the Beloved" one? What did we do
! or could we do to contribute to this
! favor of God bestowed upon us? The
| Apostle assures us further along the
same line, that the elect Church by
| nature was not superior to the world
| from which it was selected He de-
clares that it contains not many great,
not many learned, not many rich, but
| chiefly the poor of this world. rich in
faith, many of them ignoble as re-
| spects birth and natural advantages Of
herediity. The difference between
| these and others was. first, that they
| had IAN ear to hear" the Divine mes
| sage Sometimes this hearing ear
| came to them through sorrow and trib-
| ulation In their WEAKNESS and heavi-
| ness they heard the Masters voice,
| ~, IN Al. l,l,
are heavy-laden and l will give you
rest" (Matthew xi. 2S). They heard
| this voice. while some OIL their neigh
bors more favorably situated heard it
| not But still further blessing came
to them as they responded and drew
near to the Lord by faith and prayer.
| Desiring to come nearer and nearer
| they strove to put away all filthiness
| Of the flesh-sin in its every form-the
while realizing that they could not
] cleanse themselves. Then it was that
| the Master informed them of the terms
upon which they might join his Church
1.-THE Body of Christ which is the
| Church" They must make full con-
secration of themselves to God and to
| righteousness, even unto death. They
| must do this with a full understanding
| that 1t would take them out of touch
| with the world and the spirit of the
world, while bringing them into closer
relationship with the Father and with
the Son. They were assured that If
they thus presented their little all to
| God in the Redeemer's name and
merit, this great Redeemer would
| serve them as their Advocate with the
| Father and impute to them a sufl-
| cheney of the merit of his sacrifice to
make good the deficiencies of their
flesh. Thus only could the Father ac-
| cept their sacrifice of the earthly ma
| ture and all of It's rights and beget
| them with his holy Spirit to joint
| heirship with their Redeemer in all the
| glories and honors and blessed services
| for the world in his Kingdom Of Glory
which is to be set up as soon as this
Gospel Age shall have finished its work
| of gathering out of the world the elect.
| Let it not be forgotten in this con-
| nection that when the world shall be
! reconciled to God in the future, the
blessings of that reconciliation Will
| come to them while still Ii their fallen
| state. to assist them to the recovery of
| all that was lest in Adam. Hence our
influence even with the worldly should
be to encourage them towards as high
| standards { righteousness as posi-
| bic. knowing that whatever they may
attain In the present life will be that
| much of an advantage to them In the
| future life. and that in proportion to
| their degradation will be their difficult
| ties In connection with their restitu-
ton to perfection So then godliness
| IS profitable. not only for the life that
now is. but also for that which is to
come: not only for the saints who hope
to be of the little flock" and associ-
ated with Christ in his Kingdom, but