Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1911-11-18
Pastor RusselIs Sermon

sent Ne draw him" And this calling
and drawing, though in one sense free,
is in another sense restricted to those
who are in the heart condition of be-
ing drawn and Of hearing the call.
All Others remain blinded to the Di-
vine invitation By the god Of this
world. Oh Corinthians iv, ~
Evidently those now being drawn
and called" are not the whole world,
but a select class Those who prove
themselves faithful to the end are
styled "the Uery elect" These are the
Royal Priesthood who, as priestly
Kings, will be associated with Messiah
in His glorious, worldwide Empire
which Shall rule from sea to sea and
from the river unto the ends Of
the earth" for the binding of Satan,
the overthrow Of sin, and the uplifting
Of sinners. But we are to clearly dis
tlnguish between the present work Of
selec ting the Royal Priests, the Bride,
the Lambs Wife, and the work for the
world, which these will accomplish
after their glorifcation on the spirit
plane.
We must thus distinguish, because
looking upon the revealed plans of the
great Architect Of the Universe, we
perceive that thus He has arranged
the Church, as the Bride Of Christ, is
to constitute "a New Creation" ''par
takers Of the divine nature-like unto
her Lord. These on the plane Of glory
will have a station far above princi-
palities and powers and every name
that is named. ."-Eph. /, 81; Rev. iii, q.
Whoever can see this to be the Divine
Plan must with the eye Of faith look
down to the future and behold the
Church-"changed in a moment, in the
twinkling Of an eye," because flesh
and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom
Of God" Here is love, wondrous love,
in lifting up members Of the sinner
race to glory, honor and Immortality.
Who can comprehend such love as this
which the Father has bestowed upon
Jesus and the little flock" Of His fol-
lowers who walk In His steps2
Human Restitution In tho Future.
The earthly sculptor seemed waste
full to prodigality when he broke off
one portion of his stone and dealt
merely with it, but when subsequently
he explained that he intended to deal
also with the large remainder OF the
stone, and to make thereof wonder
full group, we began to understand
him better. So the Almighty is now
showing to His people that the Church
now being selected is merely "a FIRST
fruits Of His creatures" and that, after
their perfection in glory, His great
work for the masses of mankind will
begin.
The fact that only few Of earth's
families were recognized Of God for
twenty-five hundred years, and that
only one nation was recognized for
the following sixteen hundred years,
and that only a small proportion have
had any recognition during this Gospel
Age, seems strange to us until we learn
that God has not intended to put the
world on trial for life or death ever
lasting, until first He shall have Sc
lected the Church of the First-borns.
whose names are written In heaven
These now are required to prove and
perfect their loyalty by walking by
faith and not by sight. Soon, we
trust, the Church will be completed
and the New DispensatiOn, already
dawning, will be fully inaugurated
"He that shall come will come and will
not tarry." Soon our prayer, Thy
Kingdom come" will be answered
Then for thousand years the con
Quering of the world will progress un
til Gods will shall be done as thor
Oughly on earth as now in heaven.
Well may the glorified saints sing,
who shall not come and worship be-
fore Thee, o Lord, when Thy right
eOus dealings are mac de manifesto"
Then the clouds Of ignorance, supersti-
ton. doctrines Of devils, fire and tor
ture, horrors which have beclouded
the eyes of our understanding and
driven so many Of the best specimens
of humanity away from God and from
His Book, will flee away.
While now only those who have the
hearing ear can hear, and these are few,
the sanity, the Scriptures declare that
the full knowledge Of God shall fill the
earth Tn due time" We must have
patience for Gods time. as well as for
Gods blessing.
'Bllnd unbellet Is sure to err
And scan His work in vain
God is His own Interpreter,
And He win make It plain"
Consider the Text.
Throughout the discourse we have
been working our way toward the
glorious fulness Of Gods love declared
in our text. We have traced the Di
vine Program in full harmony with
the Apostles statement-into the
Ages to come" Not until those
Ages shall have come will the Divine
Plan have been fully shown forth nor
the riches Of Divine Love.
In the thousand years reign of Mes
siah'S glorious Empire, colaboring with |
Him in the overthrow of Sin and |
Death-in the release Of humanity from |
these powers Of evil, by restoring them
to human perfection, the Bride Of Jesus
the church, will have glorious
share. Glory, honor and Immortality |
will be her portion The Great Archi
tect has not further revealed His plans
in respect to the work of Christ and |