The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-04-12
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

LeHuOm celeDFdteS Tue reSuFFecuOu u
the Lord Jesus Christ, it Is appro-
pirate that our hearts and minds
should intelligently grasp the signif
canoe OF the event commemorated. St.
Paul laid great stress upon the resur-
rection of the dead. declaring that If
there be no resurrection of the dead
all those whom we counted as asleep
would never have an awakening, and
consequently would be as dead as are
brute beasts. Note his emphatic state
ment to this effect q Corinthians XIV,
12-1S). For here as elsewhere his
words contradict the thought that the
sanity dead pass Immediately to glory
and the insanity to Purgatory or to
eternal torture.
According to the Gospel of Christ,
of which st. Paul declares that he
was not ashamed. the dead are to be
esteemed as though they were asleep
at rest from all the commotion and
turmoil and strife, ignorance and su-
perstition and sin and trouble incident
to the present reign Of sin and death.
They have truly entered into rest.
whether they were saints or sin
ners When the time for their awak-
ening shall have come In the Millen-
NAL morning of Christ's reign of right
eousness, surrounding conditions will
be very different from what they are
today, thank God! Then Satan viii
be bound, the Bible assures us Rev-
citation XXX, 1-3), and the ignorance and
superstition. selfishness and crime,
which have for centuries marked his
for the glorious Messiah-King will not
permit them. His reign, on the con-
trary, will be marked with the true
enlightenment of all mankind; and the
result will be. as foretold; namely.
EVERY knee shall bow and every
tongue confess to the glory of Cod
isaiah xiv, 23).
Gradually the world will be brought
to an Edenic condition, in harmony
with the Divine promise. Indeed. this
work may be said to be already be-
ginning. Already, by artesian wells
and irrigation processes and highways
of travel and good roads and intelli-
gent cultivation Of fields, the earth be-
gins to bloom and the wilderness and
solitary place to be glad, as foretold
by Isaiah the prophet isaiah xxxv, u.
Under these blessed conditions CAN
that are in their graves shall hear the
voice of the Son of man and shall come
forth John V, %, 29)-not all at once.
but EVERY man In his own order q
Corinthians XIV, 23). The sanity be-
levers, who alone are fully pleasing
to God, will come forth in the First,
or chief, or preferable, Resurrection
come forth perfect, on the spirit plane.
like unto the angels and like unto their
glorified Rcdeemer, to be his joint
heirs In his Millennial Kingdom and
its great work of resuscitating, In
structing and ruling and uplifting all
the grooming families Of the earth
Romans viii, 22). Thus will be full
filed Gods promise to the spiritual
Seed of Abraham. "In thy Seed shall
all the families of the earth be bless
ed" Galatians lii, 29 Gradually, after
dealing with the living nations to some
extent, the sleeping world will be
awakened, Every man in his own
order" q Corinthians XIV, 23).
Our Lord assures us that all except
the sanity few will come forth from
the tomb that they may have resur-
rection-a raising up out of sin and
death conditions to righteousness. to
the image of God that was lost by
Adam. and that eventually. If willing
and obedient, they will receive Gods
gift Of eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord But the rebellious under
those favorable conditions, we are as
sured, will be cut off from life entirely
In the Second Death (Acts Ill, 1929.
In speaking of the worlds resurrec-
ton our Redeemer designates it a res
direction by judgments (Rev. Yer. John
v, %, 29l. Messiah's righteous judg-
ments will then be abroad in the
his clear as the MONDAY sun. Every
good deed and endeavor. will receive
its reward and every wilfully evil
deed will receive chastisements, cor
rections, to the intent that they may
learn the advantages of the way Of
holiness and go up thereon to life eter-
nal, which the willing and obedient
may reach by the close of the Millen-
NAL Age.
Through the prophet Daniel, the
Lord declares that many Of the world
ly who now sleep in the dust of the
earth shall come forth unto shame and
lasting contempt. We can readily real
lie the shame that will be theirs when
the light of full knowledge shall pre-
vail and all of their past shall stand
revealed to themselves and to others
in its true colors. We can well un-
derstand that this will bring contempt
to many now highly esteemed amongst
men. But we can rejoice In the
thought that the Millennial Kingdom
then to be in power will deal gracious
ly with all The stripes of punish
ment will be tempered with mercy;
and gradually by their change of char
acter the contemplate ones will cease
to be contemplate. The transforming
power of grace and Truth now operat-
ing in the Church will be equally force
full then. operating upon the world of
mankind. AS perfection is gradually
attained the shame of the imperfection
will gradually abate, while all Of the
shameless viii be destroyed in the
- ia
vine Purpose of the resurrection of the
dead and our glorious hope, far differ
ent from all the fears that were taught
us by the musty traditions of men,
from the dark ages" And thus we
see the force of the Apostles words
that If there be no resurrection Of the
] dead our hope is vain, our faith is
vain q Corinthians XIV, 14-19).
"But Now Is Christ Risen"
The Apostle argues, IF the dead rise
not" if that is an impossibility so far
as the world in general Is concerned
then it is an impossibility so far as
| Christ is concerned And IF Christ
be not risen," then all hope, all faith,
is vain. And all preaching is not only
foolish, but worse. (See l Corinthians
XIV, 14.) but now is Christ risen from
| the dead and become the first fruits
of them that slept The mere awak-
ening from sleep. as In the case of
Lazarus, Dorcas and others, is here
left out of the question. Nothing is
counted as resurrection except the
full, complete raising up out of death.
| Our Lord was the first that should
rise from the dead" (Acts XVI, 23), in
this full sense. And he was first
fruits, or proof, that others still sleep
ing will come forth by Divine Power
to be exerc ed by him in the resur-
| rection morning-the Millennial morn