The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-04-12

some will be alive and remain till
the second coming of Jesus These,
however, will not take precedence over
the sleeping ones, for, 1.-THE dead In
Christ shall rise first; then we which
are alive and remain shall be changed
In a moment, In the twlnkiing Of an
eye," because flesh and blood
cannot inherit the Kingdom of Cod"
As the death of Jesus was absolutely
necessary as the atoning price for hu.
man sin, SO the resurrection Of Jesus
was absolutely necessary, that He
might not remain dead through all
eternity, but be glorified, and in due
time, come again to effect the resur.
rection Of His Church and, subse-
quently, the awakening and uplifting
Of all the families Of the earth.
Hearken to the special promise made
to the Church: Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the First Resurrec-
ton; on such the Second Death hath
no power. but they shall be priests Of
God, and Of Christ, and shall reign
with Him a thousand years." Reve-
lation TX, g. Also note the promise
of the worlds resurrection: There
shall be resurrection, both of the Just
and the unjust" (Acts xiv. 15.)
Again. They that have done evil"
shall come forth, that they may enjoy
a resurrection effected by Judgments"
disciplines. chastisements. which will
develop in them character; and the
glory which will be attained will be
perfection-a raising up to all at first
possessed by Father Adam, lost
through disobedience. and redeemed by
the precious blood Of Christ-John v,
%, %, r. V.
"A Kind of First. Fruits"
Every Sunday is a memorial Of the
resurrection of our Lord from the
dead, and il proper conception of the
Masters resurrection were kept in
mind we would not think of quarreling
with the expression Easter Sunday"
But alas. this name Easter is asso-
ciated with heather philosophers and
idolatries, which did so much to make
the Word of God of none effect; and
the fact should be noted that it is the
name of Greek goddess The COM
promising spirit induced some of the
early Church to admit the heather
philosophers and to commingle with
these the inspired teachings Of the BIZ
BILE; but now there is the loud call to
true Christians to rid themselves OF
science and philosophy falsely So
called" and to return to the Biblical
simplicity of the Divine Revelation.
OF this Revelation alone ST Peter
declares, 'It is able to make you wise
unto salvation" and to give you an
inheritance among all them which are
sanctified." And again, The Word
of God is sufficient. that the man of
God may be thoroughly furnished unto
every good work" Let us today, then,
rejoice in Him who died for our sins
and who rose on the third day for our
justification.
Let us rid our minds of the foolish
thought that He did not really die. that
He only seemed to die--that when the
Roman soldiers cruciied Him. He SIM
ply got out of His body. laughed at
them. and said. II have not died at all:
could not die: you could not kill Me-"
Let us remember rather the Divine
Word ON the subject: "Christ died for
our sins: HE poured out His soul
unto death; "He made His soul an Of
fering for sim" Let US remember the
assurance Of the Bible that eventual.
ly Gle shall see the fruits of the ira
vail of His soul and shall be satisfied"
Let us rejoice also in the assurance
Of the Apostle that His soul was not
left in hades, sheol. death. but that God
raised Him from the dead on the third
day.
Note an Additional Proof.
II Christ did not die. then the death
penalty upon Adam and his race has
not been met Those who claim that
He did not die, that merely His body
died, are illogical. They profess to be.
lieve that Jesus accomplished for us
redemptive work. that He died. "The
Just for the unjust If Christ. the
Redeemer. poured out His soul unto
death. and if His resurrection meant
the recovery of His soul or being out
of death. wherein is the logic in the
declaration Of some that it is not thus
with the Church nor with the world?
If Jesus did not go to Heaven when
He died-if He went into hades. into
the grave. into sheol. into death. who
has the temerity to say that others go
direct to Heaven or He'll or Purgatory?
Let us be consistent. The wages Of
sin is not Purgatory, nor He'll Of tor
ture, in some far-off place. On the
contrary, "The wages Of sin is DEATH"
The Redeemer died and rose: and this
is the assurance, that He who raised
up Jesus from the dead will raise us
up also. by Jesus. through His spirit
and power: and not only so. but also
the world Of mankind, all who were
involved In the death sentence upon
the first man.
Therefore, the entire world is in
cluded i'm the death payment made by
the Great Redeemer. that "As by man
came death. by man also shall come
the resurrection Of the dead: for as all
in Adam die. even so all in Christ shall
be made alive But. says the Apos-
tie, while every man who will come
into Christ shall be made alive, each
will come forth "in his own ORDER
The Christ company shall come forth