Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1911-07-29

The Bible freely tells us that many
features of the Divine plan are now
hidden In mystery. but the last book
Of the Bible. which prophetically pic
lures the future, assures us that in
Gods due time "The mystery shall be
His servants. the prophets" 0sevela-
ton X. u. The same book assures us
that In Gods due time. when the mys.
terry il cleared. "All nations shall come
and worship before Thee. for Thy
righteous acts have been made mani
fest" Nsevelation XIV. ~. We are now
living In the time when the mystery"
Is ending and the righteous dealings
Of God from the Scriptural standpoint.
may be clearly seen.
HUT these revelations are not meant
for the world in general now. but
merely for the elect" the "sanctified
IN Christ Jesus" ITO you II Is given
to know the mysteries to outsiders
these things are spoken IN parallels
and dark sayings (Afatthew Kill, IL. 49,.
Bat not until the elect shall be glori-
fed and the Messlanic Kingdom es-
tahlished will the mystery" he made
fully known to the world and every
knee bow and every tongue confess.
Hence. only those Of n contrite heart
may now see. now understand. the real
character Of God. His real purposes to-
a.d Aer lttto \ rH In
clares. "This is Nfe eternal that they
should know Thee. the only true God.
and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast
sent" Iohn xvii. -.
In darker day than ours the theory.
ito doubt Is to be damned" held such
power over many that they dared not
use their reason. And thus a certain
reverence for God was maintained in
many homes--a reverence. however.
which surely would not be as highly
appreciated by the Creator nor have
rs deep an influence upon the creature
as would faith moved by love and
an intelligent appreciation OF the Di-
vine character. based upon an under
standing OF the Divine Plan Of the
Ages.
An inundation Of unbelief.
In our day the shackles OF ignorance
and superstition are breaking. Men.
women and children are beginning to
think for themselves. They no longer
believe the fairy tales OF other days;
the dreadful bobgoblins and night
mares Of the Dark Ages respecting
purgatory ana eternal torture are
doubted by all. and by the great mass
totally dlsbelicvcd What have they
now 10 attach them TO the Almighty,
since they have never been taught the
love Of God--the lengths and breadths
and heights and depths passing all hui
man understanding: This is the
worlds great need-to know God as
He really Is. Father. a Friend, n God
of love. And to thus know Him the
people need to he taught how serious
~ they were onslaught In the past
along the lines of hell and purgatory.
How could they ever truly love and
Worship God of injustice and OF hate
One inferior to themselves-On who
knew. foreorlained and prepared for
their torture. before they were born
They must see that these things. taught
by the creeds of the Dark Ages. are
wholly at variance with the Bible. else
they will never come back to the BIZ
bile nor lie able TO see its teachings In
their true light They must be taught
that the sin and death. sorrow and
trouble all around MS are the wage or
penalty of father Adams disobedience.
They must learn that God proposes
blessing and uplifting which will no
as world wide as Is the curse. They
must learn that the foundation for this
work was effected by the death Of
Jesus. the Just for the unjust. They
Il sanity class to he associates with
the Redeemer In the work Of uplifting
and blessing Adam and his race; and
that each will he held responsible and
receive stripes In proportion to his
and wilful disobedience:
aud that the persistently rebellious will
he destroyed like natural brute
beasts" In the Second Death.
II Have Lost My God"
Not long since. in conversation with
u young lady. she said with great con-
Germ. Il fear that | have lost my
Cod" As a child of religious parents
she had had helpful influences in her
home. but IN school she had come In
contact with the general spirit OF
skcpticism, which. instead Of repudiat-
ing the Bible. as did Ingersoll. Paine
and voltaire. merely smiles at any ref
erence TO n Divine revelation. faith
in God and respect for His will.
These teachers are MS honest. we be-
llcve. as were Ingersoll. Paine and
Ioltaire: nor can we deny that they
have the same right to their disbelief
that we claim for our belief. We can.
however. say with all sincerity that
Il Is great pity that the learned men
of Christendom are nearly all iniidels.
In fho Qanca ~ nof l,elfavfnO In the