The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-07-24


the worse Of the two. lives q moment,
In which he says, "God, be mercifni to
me-" Then. Theoretically. ~ passes
into glory, while his victim. not hav.
ing the opportunity for 4 cry for mer-
cy, we are told by the same theory.
Is doomed TO endless torture.
Note the circumstance. Jesus hung
between two thieves, one Of when
Joined with the multitude in railing at
HIM as an imposter, crying out, Yes,
If you be the Christ, save yourself and
us from DEATH" The other, Of better
heart, honestly admitted his own guilt
and the guilt Of his conrade, but de-
Tended Jesus, declaring that He was
innocent. Following this, he addresses
Jesus. We paraphrase his words:
Lord. have defended you against an
unjust attack; remember this poor
thief II you ever have an opportunity
to do kindness to nae In return.
heard you before PLATE say that you
have a Kingdom, but not Of this Age;
some heavenly Kingdom. l therefore
presume. l know little about such
matters. but from what I have seen
Of you l can we'll surmise you King
Of such Kingdom. My request is.
Remember me. when Thou contest
into Thy Kingdom
To this Jesus replied, Verify, verify
$50 be 1t, so be it, as you have nsked)-
verify, say unto thee this day this
dark day. in which 1t would appear
that I have not a friend in Heaven or
on earth--this dark day in which
am crucifed as malefactor. a falsi-
fer and blasphemer-I say unto thee
this day., thou shalt be with Me In
Paradise"
Paradise has not yet come Messiah's
Kingdom has not yet been established;
and It must come first before Paradise
Lost can be restored and the whole
earth be made Gods glorious foot-stool.
as he has promised. But when the
time shall come, when the Kingdom
shall be established, when Paradise
conditions shall be introduced, the
resurrection Of that thief will be in or
der; "fDr all that are in their graves
shall hear the voice Of the Son Of Man
and shall come forth" The thief Will
then find himself in Paradise-not
merely because of the kindness done
to Jesus. but especially because his
kind words indicated a sincerity and
honesty Of heart such as the Lord is
always glad to bless and reward.
On the day Of their dying all three
went to hddes. to skeoI. to the tomb, to
the state Of the dead. The two thieves
still remain there. and are amongst
those mentioned by the Prophet Daniel
when he refers to those who sleep in
the dust Of the EARTH" who will come
forth in the resurrection morning.
Daniel xiii, ~ But Jesus arose from
sAeol. from hodes. from the tomb. from
the state of death. on the third day.
He had not been to Paradise, for Para
disc is not even yet in existence. He
had not been to Heaven. for He had
been dead. Let us hear His own
words to Mary on the morning Of His
resurrection: II have not yet ascend
ed to My Father. and your
Father, to MY God, and your Cod
John Xxx. 17l Could anything be
palmer. simpler, more harmonious?
Depart and Be With Christ.
All, says one. have great faith in
st. Paul. and l remember his words
II am in strait between two things
having a desire to depart and to be
with Christ. which Is far better" II
st. Paul expected to depart and be
with Christ, why is it not reasonable
to suppose that he did so, and that all
others, at least of the sanity, at death
so depart and pass at once into the
presence and fellowship Of Jesus?
Yet such misunderstanding Of ST
paul's words and thoughts are. excus
able in view of the. general trend OF
Christian thought on this subject fol
centuries, and in view Of the errol
made in this case by the translators
We are not fauling the translators
because they had the erroneous thought
firmly embedded In their minds and
presumably were trying to make the
| Apostle here say what they conscien
dously thought he ought to say.
But what we are interested in know
ing Is. What did he say on the subjectf
Let us read the Apostles words crit
ically. He was In strait between
| two things-whether he would prefer
to live and suffer further for the
Truths sake, and assist the brethren
or whether he would prefer to die anc
| rest from his labors. Between these
two positions he had no choice. But
there was a third thing-and II this
had been a possibility he would have
had no difficulty in deciding-he had 8
real, positive desire respecting IT.; nei
| Their Of the things which were possible
to him would have stood in comparison
at all. this third thing would have
been so desirable.
Now what was that third thing? II
was not to live and suffer and help the
brethren, nor was It to die and be al
| rest from his labors. The third thing
| according to a literal translation. is
expressed thus: II have a desire fol
the returning, and being with Christ
which is far better"-far better than
either living under the present trying
conditions or dying, sleeping. resting
| and waiting for the Kingdom.
But. saws one. by what authority dc