The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-05-30

His great redemptive work-aS one of
His many titles. To suppose that Jesus
is a human being in heaven would be
to suppose that He is still as when
in the flesh, "a little lower than the
angels" whereas the Scriptures de
clare that He has assembled far higher,
so that all the angels of God, as we'll
as men. are commanded to worship
Him. To suppose Jesus In heaven a
human being would be to suppose Him
out of all harmony with heavenly,
spiritual conditions and surroundings.
Moreover. are we not told that the
Church of Christ will be changed from
the human to the spirit condition In the
resurrection, and that this change will
make the Select of Cod like their Re-
deemer. so that they may see Him as
He Is. not as He toas-that they ma,
see Him In glory, honor and immor-
tally, exaltation, and not as the hui
INFLATED One, Who was made flesh that
He might sacrifice His flesh on mans
behalf? When we SO thought we for
got the Scriptural declaration that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom of Cod" hence that all those
called to be partakers Of the divine
nature and heavenly Kingdom with
their Redeemer and Lord must be made
like Him by the power Of the First
Resurrection
Difficulties of unbslisvers.
The Pastor declared that he had
found worldly-wise people very skep-
deal respecting the descent OF the
LO0os. the Son of God, to earthly con-
ditions; but that Christians seem t
have more difficulty than the world IL
comprehending the return, the ascen-
sion of Jesus to the spirit plane and its
excellent glory. Both points, however,
are important, necessary, as the Apos
tie declares in the context. Whoever
is unable to see that the L00os, the
glorious Son of the Highest, humbled
Himself, Invested Himself Of the Spir-
1t Nature and took instead human ma
ture. cannot see that Jesus was sim
less. And those who cannot recognize
that He was holy, harmless, undefled
and separate from the sinner race Gle
brews vii, 20, cannot believe in the
sacrifice of Jesus as being Ransom
price for Adam, to effect his release
and that of his race from condemna-
ton.
Pastor Russell went into considera-
BILE detail respecting the manner by
which the L00os was transferred from
heavenly conditions to earthly condi-
lions, and how His purity, His perfec-
ton Of Organism, His freedom from
sin was preserved, Notwithstanding the
fact that he was born Of an earthly
mother who was not free from the
blemishes Of Adams race. He prof
fered his hearers, free upon applica-
ton, treatise entitled 1.-THE Undecided
One" which he believed showed scien-
tifically the process used of God by
which the Lo00s was changed from the
higher to the human nature, yet pre-
served immaculate.
The error Of supposing that Jesus Is
still a man signifies the denial Of His
word, that He would ascend up where
He was before, and the denial Of the
Apostles teaching that He has been
highly exalted to glory and distinc-
ton, the divine nature, as instead OF
human nature. This error, the Pastor
declared, had led to other errors, one
Of which he cited, namely, the error
made by many Christian people Of ex-
pecting the second coming Of Jesus In
the fesh-as glorious man and not as
a glorious Spirit, Partaker Of the d.
vine nature, and entirely dfsassoci-
Hted from human nature.
Thinking of the Lord at His second
advent as glorified man, they asso-
ciate Him with a material throne and
an earthly court. This, In turn, leads
other Christian people in an oppo-
site direction. Realizing that such
an earthly kingdom would be a step
backward rather than a step forward,
they deny the second coming Of Mes
siah to establish the Kingdom so long
promised
The proper thought IL that Jesus, in
the flesh, accomplished the work
which the Father had given Him to
do, when He sacrificed His earthly
Life. The Father gloriously rewarded
Him on the spirit plane. Now He is
waiting for the gathering Of His
Church, His Bride, His Elect. These
are to share in His resurrection to the
divine nature and to sit with Him in
His throne Then the Kingdom of
Messiah, so long promised, win begin
to bless the world. using as its earth
ly representatives visible to men, Abra-
ham, Isaac and Jacob and all the
Ancient Worthless, mentioned In He
brews II, Ss4O; through whom the
blessing will extend to Natural Israel
and to all the families Of the earth
(Acts Iii, 1920.
A Multitude Of captivss.
Our text, in a figurative way, repre-
sents the ascension Of Jesus from the
earthly plane to the heavenly as the
triumph Of a great Conqueror. Sin
had gained ascendency over Adam and
his race, and had brought mankind low
to the dust, mentally, morally and
pAJ StIoaAJ' nAO2CofCh, lnAo SlclOky OseI
man had been gained IN legal man.
ner-through one mans disobedience
Romans v, 12. The Looos Invested
Himself of His glory on the spirit
plane, was made flesh, fulfilled the de-
mands OF the Law, proved Himself
competent TO pay the sinners Ransom
price, and gave Himself a Ransom for
all, ito be testified in due time" q
Timothy Il, 81. Having finished His
sacrificial work He was received again
to the spirit nature with exceeding
glory and to the right hand Of the
Majesty on high.
Thus the great Conqueror IL seen re-
turning to the heavenly state, acclaim
ed by the Heavenly Host; and follow
ing Him far down the centuries, the
prophetic view saw, first the Church.
the "Royal Priesthood" His breth-
rem" His Bride" delivered from the
power of sin and death, through the
merit of His blood. And these were
but the first corps Of a following host;
they were "a kind of first-fruits to
God OF His creatures" rescued from
sin and from death (Janes 1. 10; Rev
citation xiv, A..
Later on, stretching down for a thou
sand years beyond the Church's deliv-
erance, the prophetic pen foretells
countless hosts of every nation, peo-
pie, kindred and tongue, to be de1iv-
cred from the power Of sin and death
through the merit of Him Who died,