The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1911-01-03

moi be fnvOrnblc TO them nor to utnri
under present conditions. Fear Is as
so intpd with alienation from Gud
Ard. ns The Bible deolnres. "NOne Of
th' wicked shall understpnd" tDan
xii. lOl
Mystery CT the Gospel Age.
To attain the highest blessing which
God bns tu offer al the present time
,cr.rin di:!irult requirements Must be
tomI lied with. Sin must be rrIcntcd
" heartily. and. 80 far ns toSsiblc.
restitution must De mude which
mcuns thut sin must bp foraken to
the extent Of ability. Faith must thea
recognize the Lamb of God which
take.'i away the sin Of the world
that the sncrifite for sins was Uecea.
sary. and that Gcd himself provided
II in the death OF Jesus. Faith aud
knowledge must 20 further aud not
only see and acknowledge the death of
the Redeemer, but also that God rails
ed him from the deud and higl ly cx-
alted him to spirit being again. 10 the
intent thst eventually he may accom-
plish for all mankind. the wonderful
blessings foretold In the Law and the
ProT hets
Additionally. to such will be revealed
the great "Mystery" Of this Gospel
Age. lasting from the death of Jesus
to the manifestation Of Messiah In
power and great glory as Michael
the "God-like One" Daniel xii. u. The
Mystery Is that Jesus Is the Head,
Chief. Lord. over the Chur Ii which
IL his Bcdy. and that the "Bcdy" mem
bers will eventually be glorified with
the Head on tie spirit plane; and that
then Herd and Body will constitute
the great Messiah whose spiritual
reiCn of thousand years will result
in the blessing and uplifting of man
kind
Whoever shall be thus taught Of God
In the school of Christ will learn also
the necessity for having a share with
the Master in his suffering and death.
In order to have a share with him In
his glorious reign. These will be
taught by the great Head that Q'if
they suffer with him they shall reign
with him" and that the sufferinPs of
this present time If faithfully endured
by them will work out an exceeding
and abundant blessing.
Tho Sentiment of Our Text.
To properly understand our text and
indeed, to understand the Bible as O
, whole. 1t is necessary to discern that
God has foreordained two Israels-tht
earthly and the heavenly. Both are
precious. both are "elact." both are t.
be used of the Lord during Messiah's
kins dom reign-the one on the heav
enly plane and the other on the earth
ly. A mistake has been made by
some in recognizing the earthly Israe
and not recognizing the heavenly o
spiritual Isr,el. Others have made t. I
mistake of recognizing the heavenl.
or spiritual Israel and not recogniZiil:
the earthly Israel. "The promise o
GNd IS TO be snre. to both the seeds o
Abrahah-to that which is accordin,
TO the promise, the oath-the Spiritua
Seed-and also to that which is accord
ing to the Law, the natural seed (Ro
mans iv, 1G).
} The Spiritual Seed must he develop
ed first, because the blessing will pro
J ceel from the Heavenly Seed to tn
earthly seed. then from the eurthl,
seed to all nations. The blessing upol
all nations will consist of the oppor
, tunity that will be offered them of be
| coming members of the earthly see
which ultimately. as the sands Of tn
sea rhore. will include the saved of al
nations-all found worthy of everlast
ing life. Il have constituted thee
father Of many nations" (Rom. iv, ~.
"Prnces In All the Earth.r
All who will come into this blesse
Z experience of relationship to God ar
described in our text. Fear not! for
have redeemed thee; I have calle
thee by thy name, thou art mine.
, The faithful few of this Gospel Age
who have passed through the deep wa
, ters of tribulation and walked throug
fiery trials. have not only come Of
uninjured. but have been blessed. We
and will be abundantly blessed in th
} rewards Of the coming Kingdom
They have naught to fear.
, Similarly. Natural Israel as a pee
pie was specially favored from th
| days of Abraham down to the reje,
3 tion of Messiah-particularl the sain
8 ly few of that people whose sure r,
ward will be their privilege of bein
Q made Princes In all the earth by tn
: great King of glory psalm xiv. 16).
: Even during the Gospel Age whe
). the nation of Israel. Jacob" has bee
4 obliged to pass through trying exper
: ences. waters of affilction" and ''fier
: trials" the Lord has not forsake
/. them. He has kept them together a
0 q people. He has not permitted theI
4 to be destroyed by their enemie
r Their persistency for thirty-five Gel
: turies is of itself miracle of Divin
r supervision. Without Affections the
would have disappeared as distint
r people
Y AS the Gospel Age (for the sele,