The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-07-02

shadows comes the glorious Mlllen.
NAL day.
The parable OF the sheep and the
goats" taken literally. has caused con-.
fusion to many. They think OF the
separation of the sheep and the goats
as now in progress. failing to notice
The Scriptural declaration that the
parable shall flnd It's application
when the Son of man shall come In
his glory and all his holy angels tines
sengers) with him. Then he shall sit
upon the throne OF his glory and be-
fore him shall be gathered all nations.
and he shall separate them one from
another as the shepherd divideth hts,
sheep from the goats" We thus see
that the application of the parable be-
longs TO the Millenial age. All through
that age the work OF Christ and the
Church. his Bride, seated with him
upon his throne. will be a work Of
mankind. And the manner In which
those blessings will be received will
demonstrate the sheep-like or goat
like character OF every individual OF
the human family The sheep-like will
come to the right hand position OF
favor; the goat.like. to the left hand
position of disfavor. The conclusion
of the ttousand-year Judgment day
will bring the expression OF the Lords
favor towards the sheep-like, reward
ing them with eternal life, and the ex-
preston OF his disfavor towards the
goat-like, destroying them in the
second death" This Is symbolically
| represented by the statement, De
part are cursed into the lasting ere
Ia figure OF destructlon) prepared for
Satan and his messengers follow
ers)." The reward of the righteous
will thus be everlasting life. The
everlasting punishment" of the, un-
righteous will be everlasting death,
! for THE wages OF sin Is death and the
gift OF God Is eternal life' through
Jesus Christ our Lord."-Romans 6:23.
Evidently some wise and gracious
purpose stands connected with the
| hiding or secreting at present OF the
Divine purpose from mankind In gen.
eral. While the Scriptures declare IL
| is q mark OF special favor to the
! Lords people that they are made ac-
quainted with the Divine Purposes, yet
J nowhere do they declare that all those
| from whom Gods plans are secreted
are doomed to eternal torture. or to
everlasting destruction. Thus our Lord
Jesus prayed: Il thank thee, Father
| Lord of heaven and earth. because
/ thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent and hast revealed
| them unto babes. Even so, Father. for
so II seemed good In thy sight"
Had the hiding OF the Divine counsel
| from mankind signified eternal tor
1 ture for those from whom IL was hid
den, there surely would have been no
ground for thanking the heavenly
Father for this act. We can thank
Him, however, that although many OF
the worldly wise are not privileged TO
know OF His glorious plans, neverthe-
less those plans are sure. For the
world TO have known OF the divine pur-
poses in advance would doubtless have
been injurious, because in their blind
ness they would have attempted to
! thwart these purposes and therefore
| would have gotten themselves into
worse condition of condemnation.
Our text shows that however dark
and parabolic were our Lords teach
ings, nevertheless. rightly understood,
| His message is one that is spiritually
helpful and life-giving to those who
can and do understand Il. II is this
quality OF our Lords message which
makes the religion of the Bible diff
ferent from that of all the heather. II
Is a message OF life as we'll as mes
sage OF holiness. II Is a message
| of forgiveness as we'll as message
OF condemnation. II is a message OF
| love as we'll as a message of justice.
His wonderful words OF life are charm
| ing, beautiful, forcefuI. We may read
them over year after year and we see
still more beauty in them, still deeper
significance, and that in proportion to
our own growth In grace, our growth
in knowledge, and in the spirit OF our
| Master.