The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-06-07
PEOPLES PULPIT.
Pastor Russell S
Discourse
On jerusalem

is the second part of the "double;"
their blindness will begin to vanish,
and "All the blind eyes shall he open
ed" or that time the Lord declares
that Gle who scattered Israel will
! gather them"
! We are impressed, not by fancy, but
by the Word of God. that Israel's
double" is now fulfilled, that Israel's
blessing has already begun, that the
opening of Israel's eyes is now in
progress. For this reason we have
chosen for our text Comfort ye, com
fort yc my people, saith your God.
Cry unto Jerusalem and say unto her
that her appointed time is accomplish
ed, for she hath received at the Lords
hand double rthc two parts Of her
chastisementl for all her sins" Be
cause the double is completed, we
may speak the words of comfort
Thirty-fou years ago we called at
tention TO these facts, but few had
ears to hear. When eighteen years
ago we visited Jerusalem, having in
mind chiefly the fact that the time for
the regathering of Israel was nigh at
hand, and that the set time to favor
! Zion had come we found no hearing
ears amongst the Jewish people: and
! Zionism had not then been dreamed
OF. Our communications with the rep
| resentatives of the Baron Hirsch In
migration Fund. and also with the cx-
/ anIItnpu nf ha MnSnc AInntnHn,.n
Jewish Relief Fund met with scant
recognition. Nevertheless, we felt sure
that Israel's double" had been full
filed, and that her morning of joy
| would soon break.
Meantime how much has happened
during those eighteen years! Zionism
has risen and engcndcrcd the hope Of
the chosen people" in every land, and
! turned their eyes toward the land OF
| promise; not that all are thinking of
returning thther, but that every Jew
who retains faith in the God OF his
fathers, and in the Abrahamic prom
Use, is now looking and hoping for the
time of blessing, long foretold. They
know not about their double; they
have not been studying the Holy Scrip
lures, but the teachings OF their an
clients, as presented by the Talmud
They have been making very similar
mistake to that of Christian people,
who have been studying the creeds Of
the dark ages" instead of the Word
of God.
The Three Doubles"
Glance with me at three different
statements by the Lord through the
Prophets of Israel respecting lsrael's
double" of experience: the first, an
experience of Gods favor; the second
an experience of equal length without
divine favor. Notice first Jcrcmiuhs
prophecy Jeremiah xvi, lS). After
telling of Isracls dlsfavOr, and then
of their rcgnthcring, the Lord declares,
And first | will recompense their in
lquity and their sin dOublc'--some Of
the rccompcnse with favor, and some
without favor. Jeremiah's prophecy
looks down TO the double" from his
own day. which was more than six
hundred years before the second part
of their double" began.
Turn now TO Zccliariah's prophecy,
and note that propheticnlly he takes
his standpoint at the very time when
the second part of the double" be-
gan His words are, Even to-day do
declare that | will render doHble unto
thee CXcchalah iX, ~.
Come next To our test. and note that
the Prophet Isaiah stands with us, and
views the matter from the standpoint
that the double" of experience has
been fulfilled: "Spcdk com fOridblU unto
JcrnSGicm "ry unto her Hat her dp-
pointed time is accomplished, because she
h0th rcccirCd az the LordS hdnd dOubit
1.-TWO equal partsl for her sins" 1t is
our understanding that this double
reached futilment In the year 1875
A. d., and since that date we have
ity as the Lord granted opportunity
these comforting words to Israel, as
suring Gods chosen people that theii
period of disfnVor has ended, and that
they are gradually returning to pros
pcrity, that Divine favor began Will
them In 1878. Yea, more than this
our sermons which to some extent re
fleet this feature of the Divine program
relating to ISracls restoration to Di
vine favor. are being read to Il consid
cradle extent by Hebrews as well as
by Christians; their eyes are gradually
opening, as the Scriptures foretell they
shall do,
But how may we know when the
turning point OF lsraels 'double" took
place? How may we know that the
double" was completed in 1878? We
reply that the answer to the question
nccessitatcs an acknowledgment OF
Jesus MS the Messiah. lsraePs rejec
tlon of him rs their King, marks the
turning point OF Gods favor, as the
prophecy OF Zecharlah, Just quoted
distinctly shows. Neither Christians
nor Jews have appreciated the full i'm
port of the incident mentioned In thu
Gospel; that five days before his cruel