The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-05

same 0ogpel that was bergItied by tho
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 ie
born this day in the City Of David
Savior lLife-GiverI, which is Christ
the Lord" Uuke II, 10Y. This version
OF the Gospel, good message, and
| for all mankind, corresponds exactly
with the first statement Of the GospeI
made by God to Father Abraham, say
ing: I'm thy Seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed (Gen. xii, 2, -.
Nor should this surprise us-tbat q
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, ana
physical decline, even unto deathy
Why should it seem strange that this
God, this All-Wise Creator should plan
an opportunity for the complete recov-
cry from the effects of sin and death
! for all mankind2 Why have we al
lowed our minds TO refuse the message
sent to us through the angels respect
ing the good tidin0s Of great joy TO ala
people,? 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 creation2
All, my dear friends, with tears ana
in sack-clotb, 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 he 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 cesters 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 di.
rection than has been made, in all this
time
We reply that this is no argument
whatever The same God delayed to
send bis Son. delayed the sacrifice on
Calvary for more than four thousand
years after sin had eMered the world.
And yet, according TO the Scriptures.
the merit of the sacrifice of Christ is
uOI lIcIcIy lHttDueu W DftSSfilH
to those who have lived since Calvary.
but also to all nations. kindreds. peo-
pies and tongues from the day Of
Adam to the end of the Age.
According to the Scriptures. the
death sentence was pronounced against
Father Adam. and all of his children
have shared in the blighting effect of
that sentence through heredity. Not
only has our race been growing weak
er, mentally. morally, and physically,
but by the thousands of millions, they
have dropped into the tomb, the great
prison house Of death, from which,
there is no escape. except by and
through the Son of God His sacri-
flee for the sins of the whole world
secures TO him the right to the control
of Adam and his race This control.
the Scriptures assure US, Christ will
assume and exercise during his Mil
lennial reign. During that thousand
years all the families of the earth viii
be blessed, as promised
Meantime. in the grave (sheOl. hadeS.
the hell of the Bible., where the dead
know not anything" they merely wait,
or as the Scriptures declare. they
sleep in the dust of the earth" The
Redeemers authority over them is.
beautifully symbolzed in his own
words. II am he that was dead. aSd
behold, i am alive forevermore. and
have the keys of death and of the
grave" Revelation !. 49, He will eX-
ercise his keys OF authority and deliver
all of the prisoners from the power of
the tomb. and additionally from all
the weaknesses and imperfections in
cidental to the sentence. He will
bring the willing and obedient back to
full human perfection. and TO all that
was lost in Adam and redeemed by
Jesus. This, we declare. according to
the Scriptures, is the Gospel in its.
primary sense-a message of good
tidings Of great Joy which shall be
unto all people" that in the Seed OF
Abraham, all the families of the earth
shall be blessed'-not only the living
at the time of the establishment of
the Kingdom but all that are in their
graves who shall come forth, every
man in his own order"
AS I beheld in your city the great
amphitheater which once witnessed