The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-09-06
PEOPLES PULPIT.
Messiah's
Coming Kingdom
Spiritual
Behold, a King shall reign in
and princes shall rule
in judgment" isaiah XXI, y.


ooO.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.
hearts and sympathies are more ten
der than those of their Creator.
Even the heather are getting awake
to the inconsistency of what has been
given them under the Gospel label.
They are finding out that the word
Gospel signifies good tid'ngs, and that
what has been preached to them Is the
most awful message cOnceivablc-that
all of the heather and the majority
of their civilized neighbors and friends
and relatives have been dccrccd. sen
fenced, foreordained, TO eternal tor
ture because of ignorance, because of
Il misbclicf in respect TO which they
were thoroughly honest Perplexed,
the missionaries ask. What shall we
preach? The message of damnation
does not sound good to the heather,
and they do not run after Il nor feast
their souls upon IT, The question
comes to the ministers and professors
Of colleges throughout Christendom
and they are perplexed what answer
to give. The majority of them have
become higher critics" and no longer
accept the Bible as the Word of God
they are Evolutionists and no longer
believe the Gospel which the Mission
ary Societies were organized TO pro.
claim. They are In perplexity. And
many Of them are prepared to aban-
don the former theory of missions and
to continue their work hcnccforth
merely along humanitarian lines. In
deed, within the last twenty-five years
missionary effort has turned gradual
" to secular education and medical
practice in the interests of the heath
en-, with little rCligiou5 doctrine-and
so much the better.
Everybody is agreed that the King.
dom of Messiah cannot he brought
about by the wholesale conversion Of
the world And logical people see
that larger numbers have been lost to
Christianity In civilized lands during
the last twenty-five years than were
ever claimed To be converted amongst
the hcathcn. We say lost to Christian
ity, because why should anyone he
called n Christian who has lost all
faith in the Bible--iu the Law. the
Prophets and the teachings of Jesus
and his Apostles? The great clond
of bcwiderment which encompasses
Christcndom Is realized by all earnest
peoplc-churchmcn and others. And
no wonder there Is certain dread
associated with the dark cloud. What
Kind of u storm will result? And what
will be the effect upon the great re-
Iigious systems of civilization? 1t is
To join hands against these ominUuS
conditions that the clergy Of all de-
nominations are arousing themselves
In favor of Church Union or Fedora
ton of some sort But the people
the people feel comparatively little
interest in the proposition, which they
will not oppose, however
"The Hour of Temptation"
---REv. 3: IT,
The difficulty with the present situa-
ton Is that we have stupidity and blum
dcrlngly misread the Bible We have
twisted what we did read and picked
out certain portions which pleased
best our fancies and supported best
our various creeds. We have neglect
ed the honest, truthful study which we
should have given to our Heavenly Ia
Tiers message. The confusion of
Christendom Is the result. That con
fusion and pcrpleXity the Scriptures
portray, assuring us that we are In he
midst of n great falling away from
faith in God and in his Revelation.
We see fulfilled all about Us the won.
derful prophetic and symbolic picture
Of Psalm o. 4 thousand fall at our
side and ten thousand mt our right
hand-Only the "lsraeliies indeed" In
whom there is no guile, will he kept
from stumbling in this evil day. The
chaos which we already see every
where in evidence is only beginning
Gods Great Remedy at Hand.
The fault of ChrisiCndOm has been
the rejection of the Divine Plan aud
the acceptance instead of human
plan. The Church was going To CON
vert the world going 10 conquer The
world for Jesus aud present IL to him
as a trophy. Alas. we have not been
able TO convert ourselves. which is
the particular work the Master gave us
to do. Greater humility would have
shown us our folly long ago.
Bible Students do not need to he re-
minded that all through the Old Tcs-
lament Scriptures Gods promises
abound, telling Israel aud all who have
ears To hear Of the glorious reign Of
Messiah and of the success of his
Kingdom and how the result will be
that every knee shall bow aud every
tongue confess to the glory OF Cod"
OF how "all the blind eyes shall DO
opened aud all the deaf ears shall be
unstOpped;' of how the blessing Of the
Lord VIII De with Israel restored to
MS favor aud operate through Israel
10 the blessing of alI peoples. We rc.
member the prophecies which picture
earthly governments and show MS their
termination and the establishment OF
tlp Kingdom of HauVntt IN tItoir riIius