Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-01-27
Pastor RusseIl's Sermon


Ind His exceeding great and precious
,romises work in our hearts "both TO
VIII and to do His good pleasure" Ana
.bls Is the test His wisdom has pro-
yIded Although Messiah will use Co
,rcion to some extent during His reign
Il thousand years, yet the Heavenly
Father will not use coercion In respect
n any OF these sons whom He is now
inviting He seeketh such to worship
Him as worship Him in spirit and in
truth-such as need no coercion-such
as delight to know and to do the Will
of the Father in Heaven-such as In
these respects are copies Of His Son.
the Redeemer.
Tho Narrow Way Of Sacrifice.
But. although God will not urge,
force or compel any to be sons on this
high plane Of the divine nature, he
does, to the contrary, set obstacles IN
the way and make the way marrow
in which He invites these to follow
their Leader. He does this for the
very purpose Of hindering any from
coming except the class which He spe-
cIally desires. His Message is through
Jesus, "If any man will be My discl-
ple let him deny himself and take up
hIs cross and follow Me-" Again the
Apostle expresses the Fathers terms,
saving, ~ beseech you, brethren, by
the mercies Of God, that ye present
your bodies living sacrifices, holy ana
acceptable to God, your reasonable
service" Again says the Master
"strait is the gate and narrow Is the
way that leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find It,"
Surely we cannot say that these
stringent restrictions are unreasonable
How could we expect our gracious
Creator to want any except the most
loyal of heart and most faithful and
obedient to be associated with the
Lord of Life and Glory in His glorious
Kingdom work2 This is the only call
ing which God has yet opened to hui
manlty, and not until this elect class
shall have been completed will the
worlds blessing be due to begin. 1t IS
my understanding Of the Scriptures
that the time for making our calling
and election sure to this Kingdom
class Is now very short 1t therefore
behooves all who desire this glorious
relationship with Messiah to "glye all
diligence" and to "run with patience
the race set before u.s. in the Gospel
looking unto Jesus, the Author OF our
faith, until He become the finlsher.
Tho Non. elect Also Exhortsd
The wonderful blessings Of our day,
which make It so different from any
other Epoch IN the worlds history,
have reached even here to China, ana
we now see what already appear to
be the beginnings of wonderful things
Evidently Divine Power, within the
past century, has been lifting the veil
because we are just on the threshold
Of the New Dispensatlon-because the
Church (the elect sons Of Cod Is about
complete-becaus "the manifestation
Of the sons Of Cod for the aid Of the
grooming creation is at hand-be
cause Mcssiah's Kingdom glory Is
nbout to be ushered In. The blessings
Of the present are only foretaste Of
those glorious blessings for the worlt
Of mankind. Oh, what compensatlon'
our loving God has provided for all thi
lessons OF sin and sorrow, pain ant
DEATH He has promised that th'
former things shall be removed, mo-
can the mind comprehend what th,
glory Of the future things will bel
so then, to the patient, perseverlng
civil Chinese, my message Is an assur
ance that Gods blessing is nigh n
hand. For eighteen centuries He ha
been pouring out His Holy Spirit upol
these sanity ones, His servants an,
handmaidens, for their comfort and 10,
and preparation for the Kingdom glory
The next thing In order Is the pourlnl
out Of His spirit upon all flesh; tina
will include your race and all the fam
lilies Of the earth
cannot hope that many Of you wi
feel drawn to become tootstep follow
era of the lowly Nazarene, and even
many OF you should so desire, we hay
the assurance OF the Scriptures tina
the entire number viii be but "littl
fOck@ but do set before you IN
glorious prospects Of human Restitt
ton TO oil that was lost by Adam, I
all that was redeemed at Calvary,
admonlsh you that all development {
} character you may make at the preser
} time means 80 much Of preparation an
, advancement for the future, ana thl
! all violation OF conscience and antal
! ohism 10 the principles Of rlghteousne,
? will work to your disadvantage In II
. future.
! Therefore, as the Scriptures enjol
I "Seek meekncss, seek righteousness;
, may be that 70 shuii bv I'D l. the IA
, Of the Lords anger" tZcphanlah Il, q
I The day OF Divine anger and specl
, retrlbutlon Is IN the close Of This Az
3 al tho Inauguration Of the Kingdom
! The whole world Of mankind wi
] then DO transferred into the hands
4 Messiah, who viii take them inst
+ Aey arc, They win be In various co
, dltlons, Some viii be more depraye
, others less deprayed, some win be mo
4 scared In their consciences and sou
Z less; aud these deficiencies Of chaNct
+ win depend upon the way In whit,
5 each one accepted or rejected light at
opportunity In the present time
r The selashness which has marked u
a worlds experiences, particularly with
. the past half century. is very rcprehe
Q Sible IN Gods sight. and Chrlstcndol