Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-07-06
1ATaSeEIIk1G
zSaHaIEGa1E
STUDIES

,uo,u,, ~ Iafore the world. no"
,oa cod.s ,eonle must be TO learn that |
go hayond tie clouds and shadows
comes tho glorious Millennial oa>.
The parable of "the sheep ana 'he
goats" taken literally. mas causeu ~"
fusion to n,an%. They think OF the sep
aration Of the sheep ana the goats
now in progress. failing to notice .ne
Scriptural declaration that the parap'c
sbalI find its application when the son
of man shall come in his glory Gnu an
his nOly angels messengers WIN
him. Then shall ne sit upon the tnrohe
of his glory and before MIN silaii w
gathered all nations. and ne shai' sep
arate them one from another as INC
shepherd divideth his sheep from tt'e
coats" We thus see that the appllca
ton Of the parable belongs to the NIL
lennial age. All through that age the
work of Christ and the church. ms
Bride seated with him upon his throne,
will be a work OF blessing to the Worid
of mankind. And the manner in Whlch
those blessings will be received VIII
demonstrat. the sheep-like or Soat-llke
character of every individual of the
human family The shcep-llke VIII
come to the right hand position of ia
vor: thu. goat-like. to the left hand po-
! sltion OF disfavOr. The conclusion "i
the thousand-year Judgment day viii
bring the expression of the Lords Ia
vor toward the sheep-like. rewarding
them with eternal life, and the express
sion of his disfavor toward the goat
like, destroying them in the second
death" This is symbolically represen-
ted by the statement. Depart We ours
| ed into The lasting rire "a figure of de-
! structiom prepared for Satan and ms
messengers (fDilowers)." The reward of
the righteous will thus be everlasting
life The everlasting punishment of
the unrighteOus will be everlasting
| death, for THE wages of sin is death
and the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. "-Ro-
mans 6:22
| Evidently some wise and gracious
| purpose stands connected with the hid
ing or secrcting at present of the Di.
| vine purpose from mankind in general
While the Scriptures declare it is a
mark of special favor TO the Lords
people that they are made acquainted
with the Divine Purposes, yet nowhere
do they declare that all those from
,
doomed to eternal torture. or to ever
| lasting destruction. Thus our Lord Je
sus prayed Il thank thee, Father
| Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the
wise ana prudent and hast revealed
them unto babes. Even 50. Father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight
! Had the hiding of the Divine counsel
|
for those from whom it was hidden,
there surely would have been no
ground for thanking the heavenly Fa-
ther 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 of their blind
ness they would have attempted to
thwart these purposes and therefore
would have gotten themselves into a
worse condition of condemnation.
Our text shows that however dark
| and para bolic We're our Lords teach
ings. nevertheless, rightly understood.
his message is one that is spiritually
helpful and life-giving 10 those who
can and do understand it. 1t is this
quality Of our Lords message which
makes the religion Of the Bible differ
ent from that of all the heather. 1t is
| a message of life as well as message
of holiness 1t is a message of forgive
| ness q we'll q a message of cOndemna-
ton. 1t is a message of love as we'll as
| a message of Justice His wonderful
words If life are charming. beautiful.
forceful. We may read them over yea,
after wear ard we see still more beau
ty in them still deeper significance,
and that in proportion to our own
growth in grace. our growth in knoWl-
edge. and in the spirit of our Master