The Pleasantville press., 1912-12-25

Messianic Kingdom will wipe away
all tears from Off all faces" isaiah
XIV, 81 1t proclaims. as Jesus did, a
glorious prospect for all who desire to
come into harmony with God; and a
just penalty. or stripes. upon all those
who sin wilfully against light and
knowledge and opportunity. 1t pro-
claims that New Day is dawning. in
which the Lord will give beauty for
ashes, and the oil of joy for the spirit
Of heaviness"
The True Gospel includes the Cos
pei of the Kingdom that the Divine
arrangement now is for the selection of
the Kingdom class from amongst men.
to be heirs Of God and joint-heirs with
Jesus Christ in His Messianic King
dom. 1t proclaims the honorable work
of the Church as the Kingdom of God
by and by, to judge, rule and bless all
the families of the earth. 1t proclaims
also that the number who will attain
to this Kingdom glory is limited-a
Little Flock, to whom 1t will be the
Fathers good pleasure to give the
Kingdom. Nule xii. 32.) 1t exhorts
the making of ''our calling and cleo
ton sure to a share in that Kingdom.
Is Gospel Preaching Logical?
Let us notice the worlds viewpoint.
which causes the Gospel Message to
appear foolish to them. To the world
ly-wise it looked very foolish. indeed.
for Jesus to go about Palestine with
twelve disciples. performing some mir
acles and inviting chiefly the poor to
become His followers. leaving business
and other pursuits. ''Ah," says the
world. ''how impractical was Jesus.
and how foolish was His message! A
business man would have laid good
foundation for his work by making
friends with the Scribes. the Pharisees
and the Doctors Of the Law. and utiliz-
ing their influence with their hold upon
the people,"
But, we ask. how then would the
Scriptures have been fulfilled? Who
would have crucified Christ. or have
caused His death? There would have
been no reconciliation possible for man
kind. 1t is well for US that Jesus did
not follow the suggestions of worldly
wisdom. Truly 1.-The wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God" even as
the Wisdom Of God is foolishness with
the children of this world
1t is because worldly wisdom got In
its hold in the Dark Ages that the Cos
pei has been perverted so greatly.
Great human institutions have arisen.
mighty and powerful. through mans
cunning. Priestcraft and statecraft
have made the professed Church OF
Christ one Of the greatest business in
stitutions on earth. Not more. but
less, of human wisdom is what we
need; and not less. but more, of Divine
Wisdom and instruction from the Bible.
Why 1t Seems Foolish.
From the worlds standpoint it seems
foolish that God should invite any to
do right and to be His servants. 1t
seems weak for a God Of all power to
entreat, where He could command and
enforce obedience Earth's kings. hav-
ing the power. would enforce their
commands; in fact. everybody, as
rule. executes his own will How
strange. therefore, it appears to the
world that it should be otherwise with
the Almighty!
The Bible however. gives the infor-
nation. God wishes to select a special
class of special servants To test their
loyalty, there must be opportunity for
them to resist Him and to refuse obedi-
ence. God causes His Message or in
vitation to pass on to others also. that
thus He may find the peculiar people
who prefer to do good rather than evil
to such an extent that they are willing
to suffer for righteousness sake. The
special work which He designs the
Church to accomplish requires such
loyal. faithful souls as these-men and
women glad to sacrifice their lives IN
the service of the Lord. His cause and
His brethren. The class He seeks count
not their lives dear unto themselves"
God carries the proposition still
further. however. and puts this special
class to peculiar and severe tests. that
the trial Of their faith and obedience.
being more precious than that Of gold,
may be found acceptable unto His
pleasement-eventually.
Prosecutions. tribulations, attacks
from the world, the flesh and the Ad-
versary. are permitted TO come against
these to test their loyalty None of
these things are what the world would
expect; and to tell the world of these
is to relate what seems to them fool
ishness They cannot see why conse-
Grated people of God should suffer re-
proofs for righteousness sake. for
Truths sake.
But all these matters are clear and
plain to those who are taught of God
to those who have learned that the
Church is being selected from amongst
mankind for a very special work OF
God This makes it appropriate that
their loyalty be tested to the limit. in
order that they may be counted worthy
of the .glory. honor and immortality"
which God has for those who love Him.