The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-12-22

ID delivered public
alPASTOR RUSSEll)I address. He had
large audience
from Isaiah Xvi. s. respecting the
birth of n nation in day. He said
In my childhood days every penny
I could save was devoted to Foreign
Missions. The Hawaiian Islands and
the Fiji Islands were prominent be-
fore the Christian world as missionary
fields. | remember well that the es-
tablshment Of civilized government
in these Islands was hailed as the full
timent Of the text | have chOsen-"a
nation born in a day" The thought
then was that thus speedily the world
would be converted and the glorious
promises OF the Hebrew prophets full
filled. How earnestly we labored and
prayed. Thy Kingdom come" think
ing all the while that we were bring
ing the Kingdom of God to earth and
fulfilling the Lords Prayer.
Alas, we are having a rude awaken
ing from such dreams. We are finding
that if the Kingdom of God must be
established by human power it will
never be established. We are finding
that the worlds population is doubling
every century. IL we double our mis-
Sionary enterprises every century we
would only be keeping pace with the
natural increase Of the human family.
Statistics show us that there are
twelve hundred millions Of heather
today and that a century ago there
were only half as many. Alas! those
missionary hopes Of ours have gone
glimmcripg.
But the awakening has done us good;
ii has taught us to think little. We
are now scnsibly inquiring. Suppose
we should convert all the heather and
make the whole world Christcndom
of The same sort that we have in Eu-
rope and America! What then? Would
Gods will be done on earth as it is
done in heaven-perfectly? Could we
thus hope to bring in the glorious con-
ditions prophesied. in which not only
the knowledge of God would fill the
whole earth, but additionally every
feSs i'm such manner as to be to the
glory of God? We see that such hopes
would be worse than foolish; they
would be ludicrous. Thus our awaken
ing has done us good, and sent us again
to Gods Book to see wherein we erred
in our expectations.
What Say the Scriptures7
The disillusion respecting great works
of our own BUNDLED us before God and
made us realize our dependence upon
Him for the fulflment of the glorious
prophecies. We have read our Bibles
afresh. We have taken from our minds
the spcctacles of our forefathers with
the color and gloss which they handed
down to us. We are now reading Gods
Book in its own light. allowing God to
he His own Interpreter. and Himself
to make it plain. Aud what do we
find? All. wonder of wonders. We
find the Divine Plan wider and deeper
and higher than we had ever dreamed.
We find that the present Age. from
Calvary and PentecOst to the second
rominC of Jesus. is not Gods time for
dealing with the world. opening their
blind eyes. unstopping their deaf ears
and making every knee to bow and ev
cry tongue to confess. 1t is merely
His time for the gathering out from
every nation. people. kindred and
tongue little flock of such as have
the hearing ear and the appreciative
heart. TO become the Bride of Christ
and His joint-heirs in His glorious
Kingdom. the establishment Of which
will mean the blessing of all the fami-
lies of the earth, as was promised to
Father Abraham.
Well may we reason that if our God
waited for four thousand years before
He sent His Son to redeem the world.
and has since waited two thousand
more for the selecting Of the Bride of
Christ. He must intend that the great
Kingdom Of His Son. the Messianic
reign Of thousand years. is to do a
great work for mankind in general.
Such broad foundations. such deep laid
plans and arrangements foretel a
grand and glorious outcome. Evident
" Gods Word shall be fulfilled. which
He spoke. saying. MY Word that GO
eth forth out Of My mouth shall not
return unto Me void. but it shall &c.
complish that which please, and shall
prosper in the thing whereunto sent
it,
The message went forth in primary
sense in Eden. when God declared that
eventually 1.-The Seed Of the woman