The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-05-31
PEOPLES
Sermon by
CHARLES +.
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

Pastor Russell is returning to Amer.
lea In good condition after having ad-
dressed the public of Great Britain.
Ireland, Germany, Warsaw, Russia;
Rome and Jerusalem-in all forty
times. His largest audiences were at
London, about 1000, with Glasgow
good second
MidOcean. May 29.-As look abroad
and see water, water everywhere,
without a speck of land in sight, and
as | reflect that we are passing over
varying depths. some of which are as
great as five miles, am reminded of
the promise in the Lords Word that
ultimately the whole earth, the world
of mankind. shall have such an abun-
dant knowledge of the Creator and the
Redeemer, as to be fitly illustrated by
the depths of the sea. l have there
fore chosen as my text the words,
THE earth shall be full of the knowl-
edge of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea-" ! remember also the very
similar promise by the Lord through
the Prophet QHabakkuk IL, 14, For
the earth shall be filed with the knowl-
edge of the glory of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea-" am reminded
also of the Prophets declaration that
the time will come when Every knee
shall bow, and every tongue shall con-
fess" Qsaiah xiv, 23). And again "That
at the name of Jesus every knee shall
bow, OF things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue shall confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father" And l am also
reminded that in that day, "They shall
teach no more every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. for they shall all know
me, from the least of them unto the
greatest Of them, saith the Lord"
Jeremiah XXI. 34). The question
properly arises. To what extent shall
we consider these statements literally
true? What kind of fulfllment should
we expect them to havef
Ii we look out upon the heather
world, howeve. sympathetic we may
be In respect to foreign missionary
work. doing all in our power to make
known to the heather the grace of
God. and the great Redeemer, we are
nevertheless compelled to admit that
there is absolutely no hope of our ever
causing every knee TO bow. and every
tongue to confess Christ In heather
lands, even as we have long ago given
up hope of accomplishing such work
in civilized lands. The work is too
great for US. and the errors of heathen-
dom are too deeply seated to be quick
ly eradicated. Government statistics
show us that there are twice as many
heather today as there were a century
ago. If, therefore. any of us had been
fiattering ourselves respecting our abil-
ity to accomplish the conversion of the
world, It is time for us to acknowledge
our error and TO look to the Lord, real
izing that in him alone Is the worlds
hope. Doubtless this is just the les
son that the Lord wishes us to learn.
He does not wish us to give up our eff
forts to DO good unto all men as we
have opportunity, especially the house
hold of faith" for our own blessing is
associated with such activity on behalf
of others. But God does wish us to
realize that of ourselves we are unable
to cope with the situation. He wishes
us to realize that only through the es-
tablishment of the Kingdom of Gods
dear Son can the glorious blessings of
the Millennium ever be hoped for.
Alas. We must admit. and should feel
deeply humble by the admission, that
even in civilized lands, the number of
footstep followers of the Lamb of God
is very few. The number who are
"walking, not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit" In civilized lands is very
few, In comparison with the population
as whole. We are not in this setting
ourselves as judges of the hearts OF
our fellow-creat reatures-remarkably few
Inuhe any pTtlSlitlOH " WANING III thS
marrow way" which alone now leads
TO life everlasting (Matthew vii, 14.
The Necessity For knowledge.
Many dear Christian people, de
slrous of thinking well of the heaven
ly Father. are so befogged with the
teachings of the past, that they try to
imagine that the way to eternal life is
not so narrow us the Master said; they
try to imagine that somehow the
heather will be saved in their igpo-
rance, Notwithstanding the Apostle
says, "How shall they believe on him
of whom they have not heard" (Romans
x, 14). And again, his assurance that
"there is none other name under heav-
en- given among men, whereby we
must be saved (Acts iv, 12,.
The error from the past which led to
this inconsistency is, the teaching that
all of the heather are going to eternal
torture, and that they never will have
an opportunity of accepting Christ in