Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-08-24
Pastor RusseIEs Sermon

monument, as It declares, was not so
much of a tribute to Servetus as a pro-
test against Brother Calvln's atroclty
committed in the name Of Jesus, the
Bible, and the God Of Love-
We must give John Calvin credit for
emphasizing the doctrine Of Election,
although we cannot give him credit for
making that doctrine, for Of course 1t
was a Bible doctrine fifteen centuries
before his birth. Had he been con-
tented with emphasizing the election
for the Church and had he said, II
know not what will be the fate Of the
non-elect,' he would have deserved to
this day our unstinted praise. But
alas to err is human. Calvin was not
content to leave the matter thus. He
reasoned out his theory, and, his head
being imperfect, his conclusions were
defective when he surmlsed that all
Of the non-elect, whether infants or
gray-headed, were predestinated to
eternal torture. This feature, purely
Calvinlstic, and strictly unscrlptural,
has been the cause of unreliable diff
culties in the theology Of Chrlstendom
from Calvin's day until now.
The Key to the Problem.
The key which solves the problem is
so simple that we wonder that we have
all so long overlooked It. The key is
found in the promise made to Abraham
that his Seed was to be the Elect
Jesus the Head and the Church His
members-Jesu the Bridegroom, typl-
fed by Isaac, and the Church His
Bride, typihed by Rebecca, Isaac's
wife. And this Seed of Abraham when
completed, according to Divine prom
lse, Is to be the channel for blessing
all the families Of the earth-the living
and the dead. The blessing that is to
come to all is clearly stipulated by st,
Paul, saying, God our Savior will have
all men to be saved from the condem-
nation that came on them through
Adam and to come unto the knowledge
Of the Truth."--I Timothy H. SO.
The basis Of the Apostles argument
is set forth In Romans V, -. He there
shows that Adam, and not his race
was put on trial in Eden-that Adam
and not his race was directly condemn
ed-but that Adams race were inyolv-
ed through heredity, by inherlting the
weaknesses and dying conditions Of
their parent. ST. Paul then shows forth
in the same argument that as condem-
nation and death thus passed from
Adam to all Of his race, so Christ Jesus,
haNlng become Adams Redeemer, Dl-
vine mercy through Him extends be-
yond Adam to all the members Of his
race who were involved with him In
the death sentence by laws Of heredity.
The argument is plain. To see 1t is to
be convinced. because II is so logical.
And 1t could not be supposable for a
moment that God would provide the
ransom-prlce for all mankind and fail
to make 1t operative. because the great
mass Of mankind went down to death
without knowledge Of it-many OF
them during the four thousand years
before Christ came into the world to
give His life Ransom.
The explanation is that all went
down into the Bible hel'-down to the
tomb, the death state, in harmony with
the sentence, "Dylng thou shalt die"
Provision is made for the redemption
Of all from SheOl. (HoseO Kill, 14)
Christ died for all and, as result,
there is to be n resurrection Of the
dead, both the just and the unjust
Acts xiv, 16) The Just are the justi-
fed and are the comparatively few who
have heard of Gods grace and have re-
sponded and come into fellowship with
the Father and being approved Of Him
are to have share in the better or First
Resurrection. The remainder Of the
world equally redeemed with the pre-
clous blood from the power Of the
tomb, are all to come forth unto a res
direction Of the dead, "For as all In
Adam die, even so all in Christ shall
be made alive each In his own order." :"
1 Corinthians XIV, %.
The church's sin-the Worlds Sin.
How clearly our text defines the fact
that the Church is separate and dis
tnct class from the world-a class call
ed out from the world. As Jesus said,
"Ye are not of the world, even as am
not of the world,r "for / have chosen
you out Of the world" The ordina.
ton of the Church is to association
with the Redeemer In His great work
Of witnessing now for the Truth, show
ing faithfulness even unto death and
sacrificing all the earthly interests, to
the intent that they with the Redeem
er may later on be associated In the
work of blessing the world as the anti
typical, the spiritual, Seed Of the Abra-
hamic promise. Galatians iii, 20) All
along we read in our Bibles that "Je'
sus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted
death for every man." Hebrews II, o.
But other texts misunderstood, be
clouded our judgment and led us to
think that this text meant every man
in Christ. We all know that the Bible
declares that God so loved the world
that He gave His only-begotten Son
that whosoever believeth on Hin
might not perish but have eternal life.'
| John M, 16) We found 1t difficult tc
limit this text to the Church when II
specifically declares the world. We sec
now that It applies to the Church first
and to the remainder Of the world aft