The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-05-24

kind-not all of them. we may be sure,
for some. the Scriptures positively de-
clare, will die the Second Death. be-
cause, after realizing their deliyerance.
they will love sin and will therefore be
destroyed as enemies of righteousness.
But it is a blessed thought that many
of those who are now aliens, strangers
and foreigners from God through wick
ed works are in this condition Of Oppo-
sition. not willingly. not intelligently,
but by reason of the ignorance and
weaknesses which came to them by
heredity. under the reign of sin and
death.
1t is to be a distinct feature of the
great Triumph of Emmanuel that every
eye shall be opened and every ear I'm.
stopped that 1.-The knowledge of the
glory Of God shall fill the whole EARTH"
during His glorious reign of righteous
ness. Are we not distinctly told of the
time that will follow. in which all the
willing and Obedient shall receive the
Holy Spirit. which then will be poured
out upon all flesh" even as now, dur
ing this Gospel Age, it is poured out
upon Gods servants and handmade
ems" only?
ooh, that will be glorious Triumph
for the great Redeemer. In the Ian
guage Of the Bible. He shall see the
fruitage of the travail of His soul. and
shall be satisfied" What a glorious
fruitage!-not only His own exaltation
not only the eXaltation of His faith
ful Bride class. and the additional ex-
altation of the virgins. her compan-
ions, which follow her" and the ey-
altation of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and
all the Prophets. but finally the deliver
ance to human perfection of all the
grooming creation willing to accept the
same upon the Divine terms of loyalty
to God and to the principles of His
Government as these shall be made
known to them.
"He Gave Gifts Unto Men,"
1t was the custom in olden times
that king coming into authority and
power should give gifts according to
His wealth Governors and princes
would be needed and he would dis
pense the honors of these offices to
those found faithful in his service.
loyal in the defense Of His cause So
In this prophetic reference to our
Lords ascension it is declared. not
only that He would lead forth null
titude Of captives. granting them free
dam lihorfu hlaSSinuc hr1f also no
He would confer certain gifts
We might have spent valuable time
guessing the nature of these gifts
which the great Redeemer would dis
pense. but such waste Of time Is un-
necessary, since the Apostle proceeds
to explain the matter and tells US
what gifts are meant. He says, And
He gave some Apostles. and some
prophets. and some evangelists. and
some pastors and teachers"
There is an astounding thought con-
nected with this statement-that the
Apostles were not self-appointed, and
that they had no successors. and that
the work of evungelizing, or making
known the good tidings," and the
pastoral work amongst believers and
the teaching work amongst believers.
are all under the supervision Of the
Head Of the Church. the great Victor,
who redeemed us with His blood. and
who proposes. first. to lead forth
Bride class. and subsequently all the
willing and obedient.
1t behOOves us to notice that the
Apostle does not Intimate that Jesus
gave to some Methodism. to others
Presbyterianism, and others Roman
Catholicism. ETC. No. when we held
such thoughts it was because Of more
or less Misunderstanding we
failed to see first that there Is but the
lone Church of the Living God, whose
names are written in heaven" and
second. that that one Church Is not
any Of the various sects and parties.
but includes the sanity i'm all of these;
"the Lord knoweth them that are His"
Not Given to Convert the World.
Noting carefully the Apostles argu-
ment we perceive that the Master did
not give these gifts for the conversion
of the world. He does specify. how.
ever. what they were for. namely,
for the perfecting of the saints. for
the work Of the ministry. for the edi-
flying of the Body Qf Christ'-the
Church. the Bride class. Is it suppos-
able that the Apostle erred In this
statement and that the fact is the re-
verse-that these gifts were provided
for the conversion Of the world. and
that the Apostle thoroughly misunder-
stood the matter and supposed that
they were given for the perfecting of
the saints. for the edifying Of the
Body Of Christ? No! We are to he
taught by the Apostles and may be
sure that there is no mistake. no error
In his sta tement
Notice the force of the expression,
1.-The perfecting of the saints" 1t Is
not sufficient that believers have lit
tie knowledge. little faith, and a
measure of sanctiication or devotion
to the Lord. for after they have receiv-
ed and attained all Of these things
they still need the instruction Of the
Apostles and ministers, pastors and
teachers. provided by the great Head
of the Church for their perfection.
All! there Is force and depth Of
meaning In that word perfecting We
remember that Of our Head 1t Is writ