The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-07-26

that have not a friend in Heaven or
on earth-this dark day in which l
am crucified as a malefactor. a falsi-
fer and a blasphemer-I say unto thee
this day.. thou shalt be with Me in
Paradise
Paradise has not yet come. Messiah's
Kingdom has not yet been established;
and II must come first before Para disc
Lost can be restored and the whole
earth be made Gods glorious foot-stool.
as He has promised. But when the
time shall come. when the Kingdom
shall be established. when Paradise
conditions shall be introduced. the
resurrection of that thief will be In Or
der: "for all that are in their graves
shall hear the voice Of the Son of Man
and shall come forth" The thief will
then find himself in Paradise-not
merely because of the kindness done
to Jesus. but especially because his
kind words indicated sincerity and
honesty of heart such as the Lord Is
always glad to bless and reward.
On the day Of their dying all three
went to hGdes, to sheOt. to the tomb. to
the state of the dead. The two thieves
still remain there. and are amongst
those mentioned by the Prophet Daniel
when he refers to those who sleep in
the dust Of the EARTH" who will come
forth In the resurrection morning.
Daniel xii. 81 But Jesus arose from
sheOl. from hades. from the tomb. from
the state of death. on the third day.
He had not been to Paradise. for Para
disc Is not even vet in existence. He
had not been to Heaven. for He had
been dead. Let us hear His own
words to Mary on the morning of His
resurrection: 81 have not yet ascend
ed 7" to My Father. and your
Father. to My God. and your God"
(John Xxx. III Could anything be
palmer. simpler. more harmonious?
Depart and Be With Christ.
All. says one. have great faith In
st. Paul. and remember his words:
81 am in a strait between two things:
having desire TO depart and to be
with Christ. which is far better" II
St Paul expected to depart and be
with Christ. why is it not reasonable
to suppose that he did so. and that all
others. at least of the sanity. at death
so depart and pass at once into the
presence and fellowship Of Jesus?
Yet such misunderstanding of St.
Pauls words and thoughts are excus-
able in view Of the general trend OF
Christian thought on this subject for
centuries. and in view Of the error
made in this case by the translators.
We are not faulting the translators.
because they had the erroneous thought
firmly embedded in their minds and
presumably were trying to make the
Apostle here say what they conscien-
tiously thought he ought to say.
But what we are interested in know
ing is. What did he say on the subject?
Let us read the Apostles words crit
ically. He was in strait between
two things-whether he would prefer
to live and suffer further for the
Truths sake, and assist the brethren.
or whether he would prefer to die and
rest from his labors. Between these
two positions he had no choice. But
there was a third thing-and if this
had been possibility he would have
had no difficulty in deciding-he had a
real. positive desire respecting it; nei-
Their of the things which were possible
to him would have stood in comparison
at all. this third thing would have
been so desirable.
Now what was that third thing? 1t
was not to live and suffer and help the
brethren, nor was it to die and be at
rest from his labors The third thing.
according to a literal translation. Is
expressed thus: II have desire for
the returning, and being with Christ.
which is far better''-far better than
either living under the present trying
conditions or dying, sleeping. resting
and waiting for the Kingdom.
But. says one. by what authority do
you render the word depart by word
Of very opposite meaning. namely re-
turn. We answer that we give this
vi VI thC
Greek text The Greek word is analn-
sal; it is found in another, place in
the Bible. and there it is rendered re-
turn. In this other case there can be
no question as to the proper transla-
tion.-See Luke xii. SO.
Let us. then, dear fellow-Christians
turn from the follies Of the Dark Ages
and take the inspired words of Jesus.
the Apostles and Prophets, and have,
indeed, beauty for ashes. the oil of
joy for the spirit of heaviness,'' in
respect to the understanding Of the
Heavenly Fathers Program. Thus we
will find fulfilled in us more and more
the Masters prayer: "Sanctify them
through Thy Truth; Thy Word is
Truth F."
EVER HAVE 1T?