The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-05-03

Tor centuries, ana thereby nave APP
parently substantiated the theory that
| dead man is more alive than when
he was alive. Knowing that mankind
would have nothing to do with them
! II their real personality were known
they hide their personality and repre-
! who desire to speak with US, either di-
! rectly or through mediums.
A further desire of these angels Is
| to obsess or to get possession Of hui
man being. Being chained or restrain
ed from the privilege of materializa-
| ton, the next most desirable thing In
| their estimation Is to gain control over
human being and to use his body
instead Of their own. This is styled
| 0bsesSiOn, and persons so afflicted to-
| day are sent to an insane asylum
| where, 1t is estimated. they constitute
| at least one half Of the entire number.
| In the days Of our Lord these We're
not mistakenly supposed to be insane,
but rightly declared to be Obsessed.
| All remember the New Testament ac-
count that our Savior and His Apos
ties cast out legions of fallen spirits
| from humanity.
"know Ye Not That the Saints Shall
Judge Ansels~
We need not discuss this question
with Bible Students, for it is too well
recognized to be disputed. We sug-
gest topical study Of this subject by
all of our hearers. See how many
times Jesus and the Apostles cast out
. demons, and note the particulars. AL
! though we still have with us spirit
mediums and many Obsessed, we can
not know whether the prOpOrtiOnate
number Is greater or fewer than In
| our Lords day. Since the worlds pop
ulation today is so much larger, the
same number Of evil spirits (Which do
not increase) would show proportion
| ately less. But, however that may
| be, we may assume that some fruitage
resulted from the great sermons
! preached to these in connection with
the death and resurrection of our
Lord, respecting which st. Peter
tells us In our text. Additionally,
81 dul huOW yC hoS
that the saints shall judge angels?"
q Corinthians vi, 81 We do know
that the holy angels need no judging,
! no trial, hence the Apostle must In
some way refer to trial or judgment
or testing of these spirits in prison
who were once disobedent, in the
days of Noah. And if the Judgment
or testing is part of the Divine plan,
it implies a hope for them, and in con-
! junction with ST. Peters statement
in our text it gives the reasonable in
ference that the preaching which Je-
sus did to them was not wholly in vain.
How Jesus Preached In Death.
Here arises another question: If Je-
sus was really dead, ms the Scriptures
declare, if "He poured out His soul
unto DEATH" and "made His soul an
offering for SIM" and His soul was not
! raised from the dead until the third
! day after His crlcifiXion, how could
, He In the meantime preach to spirits
| in prison, or to anybody else? We
| reply. that He could preach In the
same way that the Apostle refers to-.
saying, "He, being dead, yet speak
eth" Hebrews ri, ~; and again, in the
same way that the blood of Abel Is
said to have cried to God-fguratively.
OF one thing we are sure, namely,
! that Jesus gave no oral address while
He was dead. He preached in the way
we sometimes refer to when we say,
A NJ; l., x1,nn Ic,
1t was the great object lesson which
| the fallen angels saw that constituted
/ to them the great sermon that gave
them ground for hope. On several
occasions the fallen spirits, when COM
| manded to come out Of human beings,
declared that they knew Jesus. In the
! long ago they had known Him, when,
as the Only Begotten Of the Father,
and His Representative, He had Gre
/ ated them and all things that are
made, and was also the mouthpiece for
all Divine orders and regulations.
| They realized that He had come into
the world to be its Redeemer; they per-
ceived the great sbOop that He had
made from His lofty position on the
heavenly plane Ito the servant position
on the human plane. They admired
His loyalty and faitfrfulness to God,
but doubtless believed Him to be fool
ish; they never expected Him to arise
from the dead. But when they per-
ceived His resurrection on the third
! day to glory, honor and Immortality,
| "far above angels, principalities and
{ powers and every name that is nam
ed" His sermon to them was complete,
namely, that "the wages Of sin is
DEATH" but that "'the gift Of God is
eternal life" (Rornans vi, 23) And as
they realized thus, the Power of God
and the Love of God for His human
creatures, the Apostles words imply
that this constitut ed to them mes
sage of hope. Pen aps if they would
show full contrithon God eventually
would have mercy upon them. even as
| He had had mercy and had provided
for humanity. Is
| The lesson is one6for ALL Gods pow
er is Infinite. so is His love, His mer-
cy, His goodness. Nevertheless, every
wilful sin will have its punishment,
just recompense Of reward, and only
the willing and obedient shall have the
| Divine favor and everlasting life. Let
each apply the lesson to himself.