The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-11-17
fural drawing and to study the details

tuuS III IcSptCI W tuc great MANU- .
present work and ultimate designs?
The poet has well said
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense.
But trust Him for His grace.
Behind a frowning providence
He hides q smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower"
II we stand beside great sculptor
with his freshly chosen block Of mar
Die. we may at first feel shocked to
note the apparent roughness and care
lessness with which he smites off large
pieces Of the stone, as though bent on
its destruction. But let patience have
her perfect work. and gradually we
will see that the sculptor has not been
careless or Indifferent in respect to
single blow.
All the while that he seemed SO
reckless he was working according to
the ideal before his own mind. With
his minds eye he saw his ideal in the
stone. and blow afser blow. chip after
chip merely revealed to our eyes what
he had purposed in himself from the
beginning Of his work. Not until his
work was finished could we compre-
bend fully the ideal Is not this prin-
ciple still more true of our Creator?
He tells us that He is working all
things according to the counsel Of His
own WILL" which He purposed in Him
self before the world was" tEphe-
SLAMS i. II: ill. 10. H.
The great Master Workman OF the
Universe will eventually show both TO
angels and men all the various attri-
butes of His perfection-His Wisdom.
Justice. Power and Love. Meantime.
None Of the wicked shall under
stand" but in the End Of this Age the
wise will increasingly understand His
purposes, hidden from all except His
saints, Of whom 1t Is written, THE
secret Of the Lord is with them that
reverence Him. He will show you
things to come."-Psalm XIV. IA; John
xvi. 13.
Now Apply the Principle.
Let us apply this principle to the
work Of our great Creator. Let us
see how far it has already progressed.
In what state of development is the
Divine Plan today? What will be re-
quired to complete it and to manifest
Divine Wisdom, Justice. Love and
Power? Only by careful examina
ton Of the Great Architects revealed
plan can we judge at all Of the degree
to which His purposes have already
attained perfection.
The wreck and blight Of human in
terests resulting from Father Adams
disobedience progressed for twenty
FIVE hundred years before the first step
was taken in the Divine Program on
mans behalf That first step was
merely the making Of rough outline
drawing with various crude illustra-
tions which merely limited at one or
another Of the Creators glorious pur-
poses. This rough outlining was done
during the sixteen hundred years we
call the Jewish Age.
Israel as nation pictured all the
world Of mankind who will ultimately
come into fellowship with God. Their
one tribe Of Levi typifed the House
hold Of Faith, "the Church Of the
First-born'' Of this Gospel Age.
through whom all blessings will come
to the remainder. The select Levites,
the priests. typifed the Royal Priest
hood of the better Mediator. The
sacrifices by which that Covenant was
established, and that people brought
into harmony with God, typified the
better sacrifices Of Christ. which began
with our Lord and have continued in
His faithful followers who present
their bodies living sacrifices. wholly
and acceptable to God through Him
(Romans xii, ~
Israel's Jubilee year typihed the
great Times of JubilatioD soon to
come. 1.-THE blessing of all the families
of the earth"--the Times of Restitu-
ton of all things" to be inaugurated
at the second coming of Christ and
the esta Adjustment Of His Kingdom.
Manifestly only those who could un-
derstapd those roughly sketched draw
ings could comprehend to any degree
the great Divine Plan OF the Ages.
With this Gospel Age God began a
great, work which is yet far from fin.
ished and which as yet does not show
forth fully to mankind in general His
Justice, Wisdom. Power or Love. The
work Of this Age. according TO the
Scriptures. is the selection Of both the
Church.. which is 1.-THE Bride, the
Lambs Wife aud the virgins, her
companions, who follow her" Psalm
xiv. S-fSD
The Bible declares that Jesus. the
Redeemer. having finished His sacri-
Gee, passed into glory-beyond the veil
to the right hand of Divine Majesty.
1t declares also that when this Age
shall be completed all the faithful fol-
lowers Of Jesus will pass to Him be-
yond the veil and share His glory and
His Kingdom and immortality on the
heavenly plane. But bow few there
are who see this much of the Divine
Plan; and if they cannot see this much
how could they be expected to see still
further into the future developments
Of the Divine Program?
AS the sentence Of death came as
the result Of one transgression. but in