The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-05-10
PASTOR RUSSELL
AT ROME

| and contradict each other? We may
be sure that what the Apostle would
endorse. as the Gospel of Christ" we
need not be ashamed of. Hence our
determination should be to search the
Scriptures. and to find that one reason
able message of the Divine Plan which
centers In Jesus our Redeemer.
Things at Which We Gagged.
Men and women do not find it diff
cult to believe in a wise. just. loving
and powerful Creator; just such God
our hearts and heads tell US we should
expect; just such a God rational peo-
pie find no difficulty in worshiping.
Indeed. while some of us in the past
may have believed In the total de-
pravity" Of the race may we not real
lie that Notwithstanding the fall. there
is still in the human mind and heart
something which has 'longings inf
mite" something which cries out for
the living God. and which commands
our reverence ard worship. in proper
ton as he is recognized?
Spiritually we gagged at the sugges
ton that God of all wisdom. love-
justice and power ever created our
race with the foreknowIedge and fore
ordination that practically all of these
thousands of millions must suffer Ell
Their purgatorial torture for several
centuries. as our Catholic friends pre-
sent the matter, or at the still more
irrational theory of us Protestants that
eternal torture is to be the fate of all
except the elect few. the saints, who
now follow in the footsteps of Jesus
course contrary to the world and all
the tendencies Of life around US. Well
may we gag. and the sooner we reject
and eject this entire mass of un-Scrip-
tural dogmas, the better AS a whole
it comes to us from our honest. but I'M
enlightened forefathers. who verify
thought they did God service in tortur-
ing one another. even to the extent of
burning one another at the stake. be-
cause of little differences along the
lines of these doctrines of devils" q
Timothy iv. II.
The rich spiritual food and the strong
faith, which we, dear friends. as BIZ
Bile students. should desire and seek
for, are to be found only in. the Bible it.
self. We should not spurn suggestions
from one another. but we should re-
ceive such suggestions tentatively, ard
the Word of God should be searched,
so that our faith should not stand In
the teachings of men. but in the power
of God, as set forth in the Word of
God. From This quarter only can we
expect information respecting
The Gospel of Christ"
of which st. Paul was not ashamed
That Gospel has two distinct features.
Primarily 1t relates to the world of
mankind. and instead of telling us
that either centuries of purgatorial SUI
fering. or an eternity of torture awaits
the world. its message is that, in Gods
due time, a great blessing awaits the
world through the glorifed Christ, and
Us result of the sacrifice which he
finished at Calvary
This great blessing will not be uni
versal salvation. but 1t will be uni
uersal opportunity for salvation. 1t
will not be a salvation in ignorance
and heathen superstition. but a saliva
ton from such conditions. with full op-
portunity to return to the image and
likeness of God lost In Adam. and re-
deemed by our Savior. This is the
same Gospel that was heralded by the
angels on the night of our Lords birth
in the words, Behold we bring you
good tidings Of great joy. which shall
be unto all people, for unto you is
born this day in the City of David
Savior [Life-Giverl, which is Christ
the Lord" duke ii. 10). This version
of the Gospel, good message, and
for all mankind. corresponds exactly
with the first statement of the Gospel
made by God to Father Abraham, say
ing: ''In thy Seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed" Gen xii. 2, 3d.
Nor should this surprise us-tlat
loving and gracious Creator, who knew
the end from the beginning. created
the human race with the full fore
knowledge that Father Adam would
be disobedient, and that his life would
be forfeited, and that all his children
would share in his mental. moral. and
physical decline. even unto death!
God, this All-Wise Creator should plan
an opportunity for the complete recov-
cry from the effects of sin and death
for all mankind? Why have we al
lowed our minds to refuse the message
sent to US through the angels respect
ing the good tidings of great joy to all
peOpIe"s Why have we allowed the Ad-
versary to make US think for one mo-
ment that our God. instead of being
gracious, loving. and kind, and helpful
to his creatures, has, on the contrary,
made provision for their eternal mis-
cry? Why have we allowed ourselves
to believe from this standpoint that
our Creator was the greatest demon Of
all demons-not only that he has pow
er, but that he chooses to use that
power for the eternal torture of his
creatures. who were not even given a
choice as respects their creation?
All, my dear friends, with tears and
in sack-cloth. we should confess to our
blindness in the past respecting the
true character of God. Humbly should
we beg forgiveness for having misrep-
resented the Holy One of Israel. But
he knows that we did this in ignorance,
and be is both gracious and. generous
to forgive US our trespasses, and to
cleanse US from all iniquity according
to his gracious arrangement for us.
which centers in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Why the Long Delay7
Some, perhaps, would answer, Sure
ly, if the Gross of Christ means the
blessing of all the families of the
earth, the fact would have been dem
onstrated somehow during the nine
teen centuries since. The fact that
only a comparatively small number
have accepted Christ and been blessed
is therefore the ground for the belief
that God is merely seeking out of the
world an "elect' little flock" Surely.
If he had been seeking to convert
the world. he could and would have
made much more progress in that d.
rection than has been made. in all this
time
We reply that this is no argument
whatever. The same God delayed to
send his Son. delayed the sacrifice on
Calvary for more than four thousand
years after sin had entered the world
And yet, according to the Scriptures.
the merit of the sacrifice of Christ is
not merely intended to bring blessing
to those who have lived since Calvary.
but also to all nations. kindreds. peo-