The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-06-20

SrSSzS% ana We'll calcu-
lated to make the
hearers sit up and take notice. We
report one of these discourses from
a text we never before heard treated
and did not even know was in the BIZ
BILE (Acts ii. 80: For David is not
assembled into the heavens"
The Old Testament Scriptures we &C.
cept as Of equal authority with the
New Testament, said Pastor Russell.
because Jesus and the Apostles 80 &C
cepted them, and indeed based all Of
their teachings upon them. The false
impression which has gone abroad
amongst Christian people, that the Old
Testament Scriptures are obsolete,
that their predictions have all been
fulfilled, Is very erroneous. This has
greatly hindered Bible study, and has
paved the way to grievous errors. 1t
should be remembered that the Old
Testament represents the only Divine
revelation made to man during the
4158 years from the creation to the
time when Jesus at His baptism was
proclaimed 1.-THE Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world"
In all the Old Testament, from Cen
esis to Malachi. not single suggestion
Is offered of change Of nature from
human to spiritual, nor Of any other
heaven than that which God had orig
inally provided for mantle Garden
of Eden. The hopes inspired in Israel
by the Divine promises pointed them
forward to the time when Gods bless
ing would obliterate the curse Of sin
and death and uplift mankind from
present degradation, back to the orig
inal perfection. The Seed of the wo-
man, it was promised, should ulti-
mately ''crush the Serpent's head" de-
stroying the evil that Is In the world,
and establishing reign Of righteous
ness instead of the reign of sin and
death. Messiah, as Emmanuel, would
bring these great blessings to Israel;
and, through Israel, they would be
spread amongst all nations by Divine
power. Paradise, lost through disobe-
dience, will be restored through Mes
siah.
Instead of expecting change Of ma
ture from human to spiritual, the
teachings of the Old Testament led
the Israelites to expect that God
would make no change from His orig
inal purpose He made not the earth
to be destroyed by fire nor to be per-
petually under the cloud of sin and
death (Ecclesiastes I. 81. He formed
it to be inhabited by human race, in
His own image and likeness, Adam In
his original purity being a sample.
David's Soul In Hell.
As the Old Testament tells nothing
about a heavenly condition, likewise it
tells nothing about hell of fire or
torment Such deyilish theories were
invented by the heather, from whom
many Christians have since absorbed
more or less of the false doctrines.
The Law and the Prophets do refer to
he'll some sixty-six times. but the he'll
which they teach Is the grave, the
tomb. the state of death. From first
to last all mankind. both good and
bad. go to he'll, sheol, the tomb. Abra-
ham, Isaac and Jacob and all the
Prophets died without giving the
slightest intimation of Purgatorial
suffering for anybody, or hell Of
eternal torture.
The writer's Of the New Testament
were also Jews, and 1t might here be
noted that nowhere did they describe
the Hell and Purgatory which we
Protestants and Catholics conjured up
during the Dark Ages. The New Tes-
lament, written in Greek, is In full ac-
cord with the Old Testament, written
in Hebrew-the sheol Of the latter is
the hGdes of the former Unfortunately
our translators have. in the English
Bible mixed things up in a terrible
fashion, giving US hell and pit and
grave as synonymous interpretations
Of sheol and hddes. Orthodoxy" made
hell fiery and thus our eyes of under
standing have been darkened through
the Vaccinations of our great Ad-
versary, 1.-THE Prince of darkness"
But all this demoniacal misrepresen-
tation of the Divine character and
Plan is soon to be scattered. The
morning is at hand; the Prince Of light,
the Savior, Messiah and His glorious
Church. will soon shine forth as the
Sun in the Kingdom of the Father.
while Satan will be bound for that
thousand years that he may deceive
the people no more "Then all the
blind eyes shall be opened and all the
deaf ears shall be unstopped:" and ''the
knowledge of the glory Of the Lord
shall fill the whole EARTH" and Ito
Jesus every knee shall bow and ever
tongue confess, to the glory Of God"
"slept With His Fathers"
All through the Scriptures natural
sleep is used as figure for death, as
the present time Of the reign Of sin is
represented as a night time, and the
coming reign Of Messiah is prophet
cally described as the morning of a
New Day, a New Epoch. Weeping
may endure for a night, but JOY COM
eth In the morning." wrote David The
night has lasted for six thousand
years; the New Day Is the seventh
thousand, the Sabbath of the great
week 1t will be the awakening time,
as the six thousand years Of the reign
of sin and sorrow are the time In
which our race has been going down
into death-into the deep sleep from
which none will come forth except by
the call of Messiah.
The penalty OF death upon our race
would have blotted us out of existence
like the brute beasts had not Gods
mercy from the beginning made pro-
vision for Redeemer and for His
Church and joint-heir; and for the
Messianic Kingdom; and for the resur-
rection, the awakening of all mankind,
through this Kingdom. 1t was In view
of that hope of a resurrection Of the
dead that believers spoke Of their
deceased friends as falling asleep.
This expression Is used frequently In
the New Testament st. Stephen fell
asleep in death; st. Paul, having In
mind the great work of Christ on be-
half of the world and the eventual
awakening of all declared that be-
levers need not sorrow as others over
the death Of their friends and neigh
bors, but might realize that all sleep
in Jesus" and that eventually God,
through Him, viii bring to pass the
general awakening Of the dead, all Of
whom are yet to be brought to q
knowledge of the truth that they may
be saved from sin and death and OBJ
tain Restitution (Acts Iii, 1929.
Pastor Russell quoted the Scripture,
Abraham slept with his fathers"