The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-08-29
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

Master the Great Teacher, have been
Er,ev ously misunderstood The teach
ng Of our Protestant childhood was to
the effect that only the sanity elect
would go to heaven and that others
would not only lose heaven. hut gain
m eternal life In torment. Thus our
text was understood to portray what
practically the whole world of mankind
would he compelled TO endure. This
hell was pictured TO our childhood
minds from outside the Bible as heated
10 a white heat. II we expressed won
der or surprise that any human creature
conld endure such conditions so long
the answer was that God would exer-
else his omnipotent power to make us
nre-proof aud paln.sensitive. Some theo-
loglans OF the Thomas Kcmpis school
or thought went so far as To- picture
the poor creatures In their sufferlngs
and to show that the heat would form
a kind OF an asbestos covering which
would shield them from measure Of
Its intensity. Hut those deluded theo-
loglans proceeded TO explain that these
outer coverings would crack and she'll
OF every little while, leaving the poor
victim freshly tender that his suffering
might be the more intense
or course these theologians OF the
past had their difficulty in dealing with
the worms. They could imagine devils
who would oversee the torture as being
made immune to pain by the chief tor.
tnrer, the Almighty God. But just how
20 imagine the worm getting along IN
so great heat and how they would In
any wise increase the torture OF the
poor sufferers was tO'many q perpex.
ity. But patient thoughtfuuess along
these cruel and devillsh lines enabled
some 10 formulate the theory that the
worms would be fiery ones, living In
Ore, delighting in fire-worms that
would bore through the lncrustations
and add still further to the horrible
sntferings OF the world OF mankind.
Was This What Jesus Msant7
Did the Great Teacher intend that
such conclusions should he drawn from
hiS language? And did he stop short
Of Se. description from reasons OF sym.
PaAhy W thpNt-bN W IN thib
the general teaching Of Gods Word
or has q great and terrible mistake
been made? Aud have We mistaken
4. figure Of speech and treated 1t as
literal? We erred. We misunder.
stood. The Great Teacher who rebuk
ed his disciples, James and John. when
they desired 10 call fire from heaven
upon the City OF Samaria, because the
people thereof refused 10 sell them
food for the Master--the sympathetic
One who said 10 them, "Ye know not
what manner of spirit ye are OF: the
Son OF man came not to destroy mems
lives, but 10 save them'-could that
Son Of man In any wise intend to tell
US that our great Heavenly Father had
less OF the spirit Of love and righteous
ness than the two inpetuous disciples?
Did he mean 10 ultimate that while the
disciples impetuously might have been
willing TO destroy the earthly life OF
the Samarltans. the Heavenly Father,
of still more demonlacal disposition,
would treat practically all mankind ten
million times worse than that and use
Divine Power 10 all eternity 10 perpet.
nate tlfe sufferlngs OF his earthly crea-
lures which his own Word declares
were born in sin. shapen In inquity
In sin did their mothers conceive themf
earthly creatures. too, whose environ.
ment was unfayorable aud whose Ad.
versary, the devil, God neither destroy
ed nor bound?
Such an Interpretation, my dear hear
ers, is not supposable. We must look
for some explanation OF the Masters
words more consistent with his own
character and with the Heavenly Fa-
Tiers character, aud more consistent
with our conception OF what Just
/ Loving. Wise and Powerful Creator
would do. II does not answer the pur-
pose 10 say. as 50 many do, "Bosh, do
not discuss such matter Nobody
now believes such things This one
Scripture repudiated would shake our
confidence IN the whole Bible. But
rightly explained aud understood 1t
would settle and increase our faith In
the Scriptures as Divine message.
This, theu must be our object-not
merely to cast from us the deyllish in
tefpTethuOn VI tue uuIh ages uut w "s'
certain the true luterpretatlon-to get
the true lesson from the words OF the
Great Teacher. Thousands are drift
Ing OF into more or less open lphdelity
simply because OF the irrational inter
probation given to this text and two OF
three others. And these errors have
become so fastened in our minds from
childhood days that they have become
part aud parcel OF our very lives, SC
that many OF MS would have been In
clined ut one time TO dispute the very
existence OF God as much as 10 dis
pnte such slanderous misrepresenta'
nons OF his glorious character.
9 Entering Into Life.
Let US go back to Jesus day and In
mind place ourselves with those who
heard him utter the words Of our text
and context. The Teacher had just
seId, "if thy hand offend thee, cut II
0ff--it is better for thee TO enter into
life MANNED. than. having two hands
10 go into nell, into the fire that nevel
shall he quenched. where their worn
AiAth nor xnd their Are IL not luench