Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1911-08-22

Plan? Why does He allow darkness
to cover the earth and gross darkness
the heather? Why does He permit sin
to be so prevalent that whatsoever will
live cody shall suffer persecution,
shall find the way of righteousness a
narrow one, a difficult one? Why does
God not restrain the powers of Satan,
and spread the light of the knowledge
OF His glory throughout the whole
earth? Why does He seem to leave
the entire matter in our poor. bun
Cling, imperfect hands?
Why does He seem thus Indifferent
to the heather thousands Of millions
and to the masses of Christendom?
All! there is a reason, which sanity
ones are gradually coming to see, and
Which, more and more, is causing
them to rejoice, through faith. We
now see plainly stated in Gods Word
that the class now being selected is
called for a purpOSe-a glorious pur-
poSe-in which Adam and all of his
race shall eventually have blessing.
We see that Divine grace is now Sc
lecting the Church, and that while few
have been called as compared with
the masses of mankind, many more
are called than will eventually be
chosen. The "elect" class is to be
made associates with Jesus in His
Messianic Kingdom, "heirs of God,
joint-heirs with Jesus Christ"
So, as soon as the full number of
elect shall have been found and
shall have been tested and found
worthy, the present method of Divine
operation will change completely. No
longer will God call after the sinner,
where art thoup No longer will
preaching be the Divine method of
pursuing sinners. On the contrary,
everything pertaining to human inter
ests will, for a thousand years, be
turned over to Messiah's Kingdom.
He shall reign from sea to sea, and
from the river to the ends of the
earth" His Kingdom will exercise
force. "The Law shall go forth from
Mt. Zion, and the Word Of the Lord"
respecting that Law, from Jerusa-
lem;" "and it shall come to pass that
the soul who will not obey that great
Prophet, Priest, King, Instructor, will
be destroyed from amongst the peo-
pfe' (Acts lii, 1929.
All the Blind Eyes Shall Be Opened.
To what extent the various beliefs |
of the heather and the creeds Of |
Christendom are the work Of demons, |
Satan and his hosts, no human being |
can tell. We may merely surmise, on |
the strength of the Apostles words, |
that we wrestle not with flesh and |
blood merely, but with invisible 'prin-
cipalities and powers, wicked spirits |
in high places" We may judge this |
also from the intimation that Satan |
has been deceiving the whole world. |
We remember the Apostles declara-
ton respecting the doctrines of de- |
mons" Ephesians vi, II, II, r. "; |
Timothy iv, y.
When the True Light shall shine,
when the Prince of Light, the King of |
glory, shall take to Himself His great |
power and reign, and the Prince of |
darkness shall be bond then the light |
Of the knowledge of the glory of God
shall fill the whole earth-then the |
many misrepresentation of the Divine |
character and Divine Plan will vanish;
the blind eyes shall be opened, the |
deaf ears shall be unstOpped, and the |
knowledge of Gods will and of His
gracious Plan of Salvation will be
fully made known to every creature.
@'.AS'we have already seen, these bless
ings will begin al the time when the
Elect Church shall be completed. The |
blessings of the Messianic Kingdom,
according to the Bible, will come first
to the Jews. Abraham, Isaac and |
Jacob and all the Prophets will be |
The earthly Representatives Of the in
visible Messiah. These will be the /
Princes in all the earth Psa. xiv, 16).
The Judgments of the Lord Soon.
Soon the race will be started up the
Highway of Holiness, encouraged by |
rewards of health and strength and
uplifting blessings, and stimulated by |
the stripes and punishments which
will be visited upon evil doors in that
time. Thus "The judgments of the
L
warding righteousness and promptly
furnishing every evil deed and word
and thought. The result is clearly
stated in the Scriptures-''The inhabi-
tants Of the world will learn righteous
ness" isaiah XVI, 81.
Nevertheless, we are not to forget
the explicit teaching of Gods Word to
the effect that at the conclusion of
Messiah's reign, when sin and death
shall have been fully subjected, and
when all shall have been lifted up to
perfection-eXcept the wilful sinners
who will be destroyed in the Second
Death-even then God will not per-
NIT the perfect ones of that time
to enter upon eternal conditions until
first they shall have been subjected to
severe trial and testing. Satan shall
be 1oosed from his prison-hOuse ''fOf
a little season." for this very purpose
of testing the perfected world. All
then living, perfect in mind and body,
should be loyal to God to the very
Of loyalty. Such as yield to sin and
become dtSobedient to God Will be
counted unworthy of eternal life, and
will be destroyed in the Second Death,
from which there will be no recovery.
st. Peter tells us Of such that they
win die like natural, brute beasts.
In conclusion, Pastor Russell urged
upon his hearers that such Of them as
have become Christians indeed by en-
tire conservation to God and endeavor
to do His will-guch as are seeking
with Christ in His King
dom of glory, honor and immortality
should "lay aside every weight and |
every besetting sin. and run with pa
thence the race set before them" in the
Gospel Thus they will make their
calling and election sure and gain
an abundant entrance into the ever