The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-08-23
Sermon by
CHARLES r.
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
iabernac:e.

We report one Of his dlscourses from
the above text. he said ia part
One of the wonderful things about
the Bible and the Chtistidpity founded
upon the Bibles teachings 70 the fact
that II contains no much sympathy
comfort for the berenyed. the sorrow.
ing. the troubled. This Is not true of
any other book or any other religion
in the world. Aud who Is there that
does not at some time In life need sym
pathy, need encouragement. need
powerful and loving friend such as our
Bible assures us our God Is to all who
will accept his favor?
But our great Adversary. Satan,
seeks to make tue light appear dark
and the darkness appear tight. He
seeks to negative the testimonies OF
Gods Wora and. to II very great de-
gree. his q ceptions have been success
full. as is Witnessed by the creeds Of
Christendom. Practically all of our
creeds. even though they assert that
God is gracious, merciful. kind ana
loving. contradict this description of
him and his Plan for humanity In
monstrous terms. 6eudish In the ex-
ueme. The majority of creeds tell us
of his foreordination and pre-arrange
ment of whatsoever comes to pass and
that this signifies that sanity hand.
ful will gain eternal life in joy In
heaven. and that the insanity thou
og ng nd
Christendom are equally foreordained
to spend an eternity OF torture fore
known. foreintended and provided for
before their creation. Is there com
fort in this? Is such q plan God-like
or Satanic? Could any intelligent and
good being rejoice In such plan of
damnation or sincerely worship an AL
mighty God who would 30 misuse his
unlimited power to distress his crea-
lures. born In sin. shapen In inlqulty;
In sin did their mothers conceive themT
The minority OF Christian creeds de-
clare the same results. but that they
were not designed Of God. not fore
known by him. not predestlnated. They
tell us In other words that we have an
incompetent God. well-meaniug. but
deficient In wisdom and Ia power. Is
there any comfort In this? Would 1t
assuage the grief aud pain OF those
suffering In etcruaI torment II they
could be assured that their lot was
such. not because of Divine premedita-
ton and design. hut because Of Divine
incompetence? Surely there Is no com.
fort to be had from such view
After all. we Protestants did not
make much OF au Improvement upon
the theory held by our forefathers
against which we protested In the six
teenth century. Surety purgatorlal
tortures OF few centuries are no
worse. no less comforting than our
Protestant conceptions or an eternity
of torture for all the non-elect Our
Catholic forefuthers manufactured Fur
gatory without shred of Scripture
upon which to base the theory. They
built 1t In their imnginatlons: they In.
vented It's fires aud tortures. Our
Protestant forefn Tiers. using their Inn
aglDations, gave liz an eternal torment
hell-not more tangible, not more Scrip
tural than Purgutory. They did In
deed use Scriptural term--shcOl
hades. hell-but. overlooking the fact
that these words ali signify the state
OF death. the condition OF the dead
they wrested the language and warped
II in an uuscripturai manner to signify
torture. The pcmalty or wage of sin
Is death They mndc Of II torture
everlasting. without the slightest au
thority of Scripture except "A nlisuuder
stood ana misapplcd parable, which
rightly understood, tcaclas II totally
different lesson. The false Gospc
has surely lost IT'S power People are
becoming too Intelligent TO endure II
AS consequence attendance Al
Churches Is decreasing and reverence
for God Is diminishing. lnlidclity. call
ed Higher Criticism. etc. IN increasing
The nIHnd Of the hour Is the GOSpc
OF comfort, ST pnuI declares whul
we all know. namely, that the whol,
creation groaneth aud trnvailcth II
pain together until now waiting FOL
the manifestation OF the sons o
God" Here we see the necessity fo
this Gospel 0f comfort We see ais,
that God hns provided It and that II 4
coming 10 the world ia the end Of thi
Age. In the dawuing of the new Age
II viii come to the world in genera
as soon us the clrct Church shall hnv
been selected aud. 10y the First Res
direction" power, glOrltied with he
Lord as his Kingdom class as tn
glorhed sons OF God whose mlsSlo
II will be 10 bless all the families q
the earth
SFather Of Mereies-ood of All Com
fort"
When ST Paul says. KNOWING ii
terrors OF the Lord" he evidently r,
fers 10 the fact that our Creator Ia
declared that the wage OF slu
death" moi eternal tormentl; that ii
soul that sinGelh. II shall die" mot liN
iD torment; that "all the wicked wi
God destroy" mot preserve In Ire