The Detroit times., 1910-07-16
BE We RECoNCILED TO GOD.

Ole lne position OF God 3 saints In the
present life, I'VE know that when
He shall appear In His glory We also
shall appear with Him. When He
shall reign as the king OF kings and
lord of lords, when TO HIN every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess,
the elect church, His Bride, will be
with Him In His throne, sharers of
His glory and participants I'm His
work-the work OF blessing and up
lifting the Notwithstanding the
world To God
field.
Calvin, Knox and others OF the re-
formers. we may then see, were quite
right In their insistence that none at
the present time are In a reconciled
condition toward God except the com.
paratively tew of our race--the saints.
These turn from sin 10 righteousness
turn from disobedience TO faith and
conservation, and In and through the
merit OF the Redeemer are acceptable
as probationary members OF the elect
church. IL faithful they will shortly,
In the first resurrection" constitute
the church of glory, the bride, the
lambs wife and joint-heir.
Brothers Wesley. Whitfield and 9TH
ers were also right In their PROPOSE
| ton that God was not content with
electing merely a sanity handful but
| surely loved the whole world and
would surely give to every member of
the race full opportunity to come to
knowledge of Christ and to seek A
share in the merit OF his sacrifice for
sins and an opportunity for life ever
lasting.
Those dear brethren contended ear
nestly with each other over their DIFF
ferences. the one unfolding the doc
trine or election, the other contend.
ing for the doctrine of free grace
Now we see that both were right,
Now we see that the election belongs
to this gospel age and to the high
calling TO the divine nature and that
In on age following this free grace to-
ward all OF the race OF Adam will pre-
vail. The knowledge OF the Lord
shall I'LL the whole earth" every
knee shall bow and every tongue
confess" Then those who. under
the rule and assistance and uplifting
influence OF the elect will come
into harmony with the divine law,
will be blessed with full reconcilia-
ton to God and eternal life on the
human plane-in Paradise restored
while the intelligently perverse. in
stead of being everlastingly tortured.
as we had supposed, will, as the
apostle says, be punished with ever
lasting destruction QI Thessalon-
ians J, 81.
I ''HalleiuIah, What q savlorl"
From this viewpoint the glory OF
our Redeemer and the glory of our
heavenly Father are multiplied a mil
lion times. Our Redeemer not only is
To be- the Savior OF the little flock, "
His church, His bride, ON the spirit
plane OF glory, but additionally.
through the agency OF his Millennial
kingdom. He is to be the Savior OF
the world He tasted death for every
man." as the scriptures declare. and,
as they express II, "He shall see OF
the travail OF his soul and be salts
fed" isaiah Hii. III. Who could sup
pose that he Savior would be salts
fed with the result of His labor II
only about one In a million. as mem
bers OF His church. reach the heaven
ly glory-land?
Who In our day could for a moment
believe the suggestion OF Brother
Jonathan Edwards, the great New
England preacher, who declared that
the Lord and his saints would, to-
gether, look over the battlements OF
heaven at their neighbors and friends
and children suffering an eternity of
unreliable torture at the hands of
demons. and turn around and praise
God the louder on this behalf? Poor
Brother Edwards had. we believe, but
a small conception OF divine justice
and divine love. And his difficulty
was that he did not see what Is now
so distinct and clear to Bible students.
namely, that the Bible hell 10 which
all humanity goes Is not a place OF
torture nor OF consciousness at all,
but the grave, sheol, hades the
tomb.
Instead OF Christ and the saints
praising God because OF the tortures
OF the poor grooming creation, the d.
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
suhlimest and most gigantic character
IA work not only for a living rem
nant OF the .ace. but one which will
include in its blessing all the thou
sands OF millions of humanity under
the divine sentence. The wages OF
sin Is death Truly the scriptures
declare. As the heavens are higher
than the earth. SO are Gods ways and
Gods plans loftier than mans con-
ceptions.
Notice next the context. st Paul.
after mentioning Christ as the head
OF the body. the church, who is the
flrst-begotten, the frst.born from the
dead, that In all things he might have
the pre-eminence, adds for II
pleased the Father that In Him should
all fulness 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" CColos.
SLAMS l, 1920. The apostle indicates
the great scope Of Christ's work as IL
shall be eventually when finished He
Is appointed OF the Father TO estab.
lish peace and righteousness through
out the Universe. But he has not yet
accomplished all OF this. lie has only
begun. He has died for the sins
OF the world. as well as for the sins
of the church But He has not yet
offered 20 justice the satisfaction for
the worlds sins. He first appears he.
\ fore God az the great advocate for