The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1912-11-29

The Pastor said
sA 49, that in order to
IlPAST0R RUSSEll)l appreciate the
Scriptures on all
subjects, we must handle the Word OF
God honestly. We must recognize that
our Lord Jesus is one person and the
Father another person The oneness
between the Father and the Son Is that
declared by our Master Himself, say |
ing that He and the Father are one |
in the same sense that He desires al
Of His disciples to be one-in nina, III |
purpose, in will, In effort John xvii
q. 23) Our Lord Jesus is Gods un
speakable GIFT
The Scriptures declare that the Re
deemer took the nature of men In or
der to redeem sinners; but that In Him
there was no sin Only Il sinless one
could give to God Ransom for Adam
and thus redeem from destruction, not
only Adam. but all his posterity, IN
volved in sin and death through him.
The speaker then showed that God
set before our Lord a great JOY, the
influence of which led Jesus to endure
cheerfully the bitter experiences Of His
earthly life. This JOY Is intlmated to
have been: ~ His pleasure in doing
the Fathers will; ~ His privilege of
Infringing many sons to glory"-the
Church; ~ His pleasure and JOY in be
Ing by and by the worlds Restorer, de
llvering them from the power Of satan
sin and death. Wherefore" st Paul
saws, God hath highly exalted Him,
for above angels, municipalities ana
mowers, and every name that Is named
An Opposite Course From Satan's.
Pastor Russell then contrasted the
course pursued by Satan with that fol
lowed by our Lord Meditating am
bilious designs, Satan found an oppor
Istmity In Eden. lie beheld In our first
parents a new order Of beings design
ed to bring into existence race that
would I'll the earth. Satan essayed ~
be ruler or prince over this human ere
alton; and by 50 doing, he not only be
came rebel against God, but brought
sin and death into the world,
Our Lord Jesus pursued an opposite
course, and demonstrated His loyalty
and obedience, St Paul intimates that
although the Log0s was much higher
than was Luclfer, yet He was humble,
aud "meditated not usurpation" as
the Greek text declares. phil. Ii.
g. He thought not by robbery to be
equal with God On the contrary, our
Lord willingly accepted the Divine pro
posal that He should be humbled to the
human plane for time, in order to
carry out the Fathers Plan
To the Church. Jesus Is Gods un
Hpeakable Gift He Is Indeed a GIFT
TO the whole world, unspeakdble In
value, but He Is more to the Church
than to the world To His fOOtstep
followers, He Is the captain OF their
Salvation" their Bridegroom, their
|
Priest. Through Him they are priv
iIeged to he the Royal Priesthood
Through the merit Of the sacrifice Of
Christ, they are privileged to present
their bodies living sacrifices, holy, &C
ceptable unto Cod
The Pastor then said that Justice Is
the foundation Of Gods Throne, In
the past, endeavors to harmonic Jus
tice with our great Creators dealings
with humanity have involved us In
difficulty We were assured by the
prominent creeds that God had know
ingly brought mankind into existence
| under such conditions that the great
majority would spend eternity In tor
ture We perceived no Justice In any
such arrangement But while desist-
ing from criticislng the Creator, we
could not indOrse such course, nor
see 1t to be in harmony with the pi-
vine regulations governing ourselves.
u we are to love our enemies. should
more be expected Of fallen human be
ings than Of our perfect Creator?
Fbe Scriptures declare only the con
secrated Church see the lengths,
byeadths, heights and depths of the
Love Of God" which passeth under
standings This class alone Is In any
sense prepared to give thanks to God
now for His unspeakable GIT. Their
thanks go up, not only In words. but
also In actions, which speak louder
than words" These thanks ascend as
bweet Incense to God
BY and by, "All the blind eyes will
be opened and all the deaf ears will be
nnstopped." Then the whole world Of
mankind. including those awakened
from the sleep Of death during Mes
siah's reign. will be In condition to rec
ognlze Gods unspeakable Gift and rem
dies thanks. When wilful evil doors
ahaH have been destroyed, then every
creature In Heaven. on earth and In