Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-05-27
Pastor RusseII's Sermon

ing Of the win OF the Heavenly Fa.
ther. By such falthfulness He per
fected Himself on the Divine plane
that Is. He proved Himself worthy ac-
cording to the covenant-"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-sacrlhcers
with Jesus
The begetting Of the Holy Spirit
starts US in the life Divine. We are not
to be perfected 10 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.
6cation comes TO us as a reward Of
faith, regardless Of works. but our glo
rifcation will follow only as a reward
for faithfulness-"Be thou faithful
unto death. and will give thee a
crown Of life"
These Gifts Are Lasting.
Not merely for a 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 a day. but
throughout this Age. until the com
pletlon of the Church. is clearly evl.
denced by His statement. namely. that
all these gifts were for the edifcaflon
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 a perfect Man, unto the
measure Of the stature Of the fulness
Of Christ Verse l3.
This is O wonderful statement. how.
ever we view It. Shall we say that II
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 knowledge
Of the Son Of God. and the perfection
Of manhood in Christ. and to a devel
oped stature or maturity in CHRISTI
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
the MEMBERSHIP the full development
or stature Of the Anointed. the Mes
slah. Head and membersY We be.
ieve that the latter is the Apostles
thought.
Nevertheless, It cannot be disputed
that the selection OF these members all
the way down the Age must have been
along the lines here Indicated. lndl
vidually, one partially developed would
not be fitted for the Kingdom One
not 10 the unity OF the faith would not
be suitable One not developed TO the
proper measure or stature as n CHRIS
uan would not be suitable. Nothing
is more plain than thut the individual
Christian needs great deal OF lnstruc-
ton. edihcation. building up In the
holy faith. testing, proving. chisellng
polishing, fitting, preparing before he
shall be ready for place IN the glori
GUS Temple Of God, the Church In
glory.
Gods People No Longer Need 30 Mia.
led
This thought is confirmed by the sue.
ceedlng verses, In which the Apostle
tells us that by the assistance OF these,
the Dlyinely provided gifts, teachers.
etc. Gods people need no longer, like
children. to be tossed to and fro. and
be mlsled by the selght OF men and
cunning craftness OF those who would
deceive. On the contrary. being sin
cere, and speaking the truth In love,
they are to grow up into membership
In the Anolnted one In all things
coming fully aud completely into fel
lowship aud obedienre. under the
Head, even Christ Verses II, ~.
Proceeding. the Apostle tells us that
all who are recognized as members OF
the Body OF Christ must be properly
Joined to the Hend-by a proper com.
DaCt. or cOvpnnnt intaliippntlv nade.