The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-05-24
PASTOR RUSSELL'S SERMON

ther. by such faithfulnesS He per-
fected Himself Oh the Divine plane
that is. He proved Himself worthy ac-
cording to the coyenant-"Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain, to receive
glory, honor, dominion and power"
Similarly the followers of Jesus are
to be sharers with Him in the suffer-
ings of this present time and in the
glories which shall follow. for IF we
suffer with Him we shall also reign
with Him." Although we are imper-
feet in the flesh. while He was perfect,
yet the robe Of His righteousness. the
merit of His sacrifice, covers all of our
blemishes and makes us. as His foot
step followers. holy and acceptable be.
fore the Father. as joint-sacrificers
with Jesus
The begetting of the Holy Spirit
starts us in the life Divine. We are not
to be perfected in the flesh, but In the
spirit, and our perfection and accept
ance with the Father will be demon
strated by our loyalty Of heart and the
fullness and thoroughness with which
we submit our all to the Divine will
and seek to glorify God in our bodies
and spirits, which are His Our justi-
fication comes to US as a reward Of
faith, regardless of works, but our glo-
rifcation will follow only as a reward
for faithfulness-"B thou faithful
unto death. and will give thee a
crown of life"
These Gifts Are Lasting.
Not merely for few days or years
were these gifts to the Church pro-
vided; on the contrary, they were to
endure throughout this entire Age,
until the Church perfected shall pass
beyond the veil and be forever with
her Redeemer. to share His glory,
honor and immortality. The Lord
from time to time has raised up evan
gelists. pastors and teachers for this
glorious service of preparing the
"chaste virgin" the Church. to be the
Bride. in glory. But the Apostolic
Office. as represented in The Twelve,
specially provided by the Father. has
continued and needs no replenishment.
We still have their instructions as
fully as the early Church. that the
man of God may be perfect, thorough
ly furnished unto every good work"
That the Apostle did not understand
the matter to be merely for day. but
throughout this Age. until the COM
pletion of the Church. is clearly evil
denced by His statement, namely, that
oil cif 10 20 he Cd;
of the Body Of Christ and the per-
fecting of the saints to the last-''until
we all come to the unity Of the faith
and to the knowledge of the Son OF
God. unto perfect Man. unto the
measure Of the stature of the fulness
Of Christ. Verse 13.
This is a wonderful statement, how
ever we view it, Shall we say that it
applies to each Individual member Of
the Church of Christ. and that each
individual must come into that full
unity Of faith. and that full kno wledge
Of the Son of God, and the perfection
Of manhood in Christ. and to devel-
Oped stature or maturity in Christ?
Or shall we understand the meaning
to be, until the entire Church of Christ
shall have reached a full knowledge
and shall. as whole, have come to
the condition Of perfect Man. of
which Christ is the Head and we are
or stature Of the Amounted, the Mes
siah. Head and members? We be-
lieve that the latter Is the Apostles
thought.
Nevertheless. 1T cannot be disputed
that the selection Of these members all
the way down the Age must have been
along the lines here indicated. lndi-
vidually, one partially developed would
not be fitted for the Kingdom. One
not in the unity OF the faith would not
be suitable. One not developed to the
proper measure or stature as Chris
tan would not be suitable. Nothing
Is more plain than that the individual
ton. editication. building up In the
holy faith. testing, proving. chiseling.
polishing. fitting preparing before he
shall be ready for place in the glOrt-
Gus Temple of God. the Church In
glory
Gods People No Longer Need Be Mis-.
led.
This thought is confirmed by the sue
ceeding verses. In which the Apostle
tells us that by the assistance of these,
the Divinely provided gifts. teachers.
ETC., Gods people need no longer. like
children. to be tossed to and fro. and
be misled by the sleight of men and
cunning craftiness of those who would
deceive. On the contrary. being sim
cere. and speaking the truth in love,
they are to grow up into membership
in the Anointed One in all things
coming fully and completely into fell
lowship and obedience, under the
Head. even Christ.-Verses IA, Is.
Proceeding, the Apostle tells us that
all who are recognized as members OF
the Body Of Christ must be properly
Joined to the Head-by a proper COM
pact. or covenant, intelligently made
and fully intended. This union must
be compacted, and it requires the en-
tire Gospel Age to effect this develop.
ing and compacting as members. that
the whole Body Of the Amounted may
be one, symmetrical. beautiful. COOP
eratiye. making increase In it's mem.
bers and edifying itself In ioveSgrow-
ing In grace and In knowledge and In