The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-01-26

the God of Christianity. Itis the Love
Of God which constrains us-draws us.
And His exceeding great and precious
will and to do His good pleasure" And
this is the test His wisdom has pro-
yided Although Messiah will use co,
ercion TO, some extent during His reign
OF a thousand years. yet the Heavenly
Father will not use coercion in respect
inviting. He seeketh such TO worship
Him as worship Him in spirit and in
truth-such as need no coercion-such
as delight to know and 10 do the will
OF the Father in Heaven such as III
these respects are copies. Of His Son,
the Redeemer. *
The Marrow Way Of Sacrifice.
But. although God will not urge
force or compel any to be sons on this
high plane of the divine nature. He
does. to the contrary, set obstacles in
the, way and, make the way narrow"
in which he invites, these to follow
their Leader He does, this for the
very purpose Of hindering any from
coming except the class which He spe-
cially desires. His Message is through
Jesus. IF any man will be My disci-
pie, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow Me-" Again the
Apostle expresses the Fathers terms.
saying. 81 beseech you, brethren. by
the mercies of God, that We present
your bodies living sacrifices. holy and
acceptable to God, your reasonable
service" Again says the Master,
STRAIT is the gate and narrow is the
way that leadeth unto life. and few
there be that find it, ~.
Surely we cannot say that these
stringent restrictions are unreasonable.
How could we expect our gracious
Creator to want any except the most
loyal Of heart and most faithful and
obedient to be associated with the
Lord of Life and Glory in His glorious
Kingdom work? This is the only call
ing which God has yet opened to hui
mainly, and not until this elect class
shall have been completed will the
worlds blessing be due to begin. 1t Is
my understanding of the Scriptures
that the time for making our calling
and election sure to this :. Kingdom
class is now very short 1t therefore
behooyes all who desire this glorious
relationship with Messiah to give all
diligence and to run with patience
the race set before u.s. in the Gospel
looking unto Jesus. the Author of our
faith. until He become the f1nisher.
]. The Non. elect Also Exhorted.
The wonderful blessings Of our day.
which make 1t so different from any
other Epoch IN the worlds history,
have reached even here to China. and
we now see what, already appear. to
be the beginnings OF wonderful things
Evidently Divine Power. within the
past century. has been lifting the veii,
because we are just on the threshold
Of the New Dispensation-because the
Church 1.-THE elect sons Of Cod is about
complete-because '.tthe manifestation
Of the sons Of Cod for the aid of the
grooming creation" is at hand-be-.
cause Messiahs Kingdom glory is
about to be .ushered in. The blessings
of'the present are only. a foretaste or
those glorious blessings for the world
Of mankind. Oh, what compensations
our loving God has provided for.all the
lessons Of sin and sorrow. pain and
death! He has promised that the
former things shall be removed, nor
can the mind comprehend what the
glory Of the future things will be!
So then. to the patient, persevering,
civil Chinese. my message is an assur-
ance that Gods blessing is nigh at
hand. For eighteen centuries He has
been pouring out His Holy Spirit upon
these sanity ones. His servants and
handmaidens. for their comfort and Joy
and preparation for the Kingdom glory.
The next thing in order is the pouring
out of His spirit upon all flesh; that
will include your race and all the fam
lilies of the earth.
/ cannot hope that many of. you will
feel drawn to become footstep follow
ers of the lowly Nazarene. and even if
many of you should so desire, we have
the assurance of the Scriptures that
the entire number will be but a little
fock::" but do set, before you the
glorious, prospects of human Restitu-
ton to all that was lost by Adam, to
all that was redeemed at Calvary. l
admonisb you that all development of
character you may make at the present
time means SO much of preparation and
advancement for the future. and; that
all violation of conscience and antag-
onism to the principles Of Righteousness
will work to your disadvantage in the
future. - -.
Therefore, ais the Scriptures enjoln.
"Seek meekness, seek righteousness; it
may be that We shall be hid in the day
of the Lords anger" (Zephaniah ii. 81
The day of Divine anger and special
retribution is in the close Of this Age,
at the inauguration Of the Kingdom.
The whole world of mankind will
then be transferred into the hands Of
Messiah. who will take them Just as
they are They will be in various con-
ditions Some will be more depraved,
others less deprayed; some will be more
scared in their consciences and some
less; and these deficiencies Of character
will depend upon the way in which
each one accepted or rejected light and
opportunity in the present time.