The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-03-22

dati0n OF the neatlen, as set lOrtD III
thc first chapter Of his Epistle to the
Romans. He tells us most distinctly,
as the Old Testament does. that man
originally knew His Creator and was
in fellowship with Him. but :hat he
gradually slipped away from this into
greater and greater depths of degrade.
ton. mental. moral and physical Let
me read Saint Paul's words: When
they knew God they glorified Him not
as God, neither We're thankful. but be-
came vain in their imaginations and
their foolish heart was darkened Fro
Tossing themselves to be wise. they be-
came fools. and changed the glory OK
the incorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and to
birds and four-footed beasts and creep
ing things. CONTRARY TO Divine i'll
structions they imag ined that the rec.
ognition Of God in all these various
creatures would increase their reycr-
encc and make them better and more
thoughtful of the lower creatures. But
herein they were foolish:l Wherefore,
through the lusts of their own hearts.
to dishonor their own bodies between
themselves = = And even as they
did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to
reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not proper. Rom. j, 21-2S.
Feel After God and Find Him."
But the feature OF our text which
most particularly impresses me IS
Saint Paul's declaration that God de-
termined and appointed in advance the
times of these natiOns-when they
should be brought in contact with the
light of Divine Truth, to the intent
that the reverential quality. Inherent
in the race, might exercise itself and
feel after the true God and haply find
Him.
We see that in Divine providence the
torch of the Gospel, first lighted in Pal
estine, spread westward and north
ward. through Europe, and still west
ward to America. 1t, indeed, has been
the torch Of civilization. No other pow.
err in the world possesses the dynamic
force of the Gospel Message. In pro.
portion as it is received in its purity it
breaks the letters of ignorance and Sill
perstition. 1t sets men free. 1t de-
clares. as does our text, the oneness OF
the human family-that the entire hu
man family are by nature brothers. II
tells that God is no respecter of per
sons and that the same laws of right
and wrong apply to kings and princes,
bishops and clergy, that apply to the
humblest members of the race. and
that all must give an account TO tho
great Creator sooner or later
This feature of the Gospel Message
has been the igniting spark for all ouI
civilization. But. elias! the combina
tion of this civilization with the innate
selfishness OF the unregeuerate pro
duces Il human type which is danger
Gus, because of its higher intelligence
and unrestrained sweep of ambition
and imagination combined with Il
fallen nature, born in sin and shapeD
in iniquity and continually tending to-
ward SeifishneSs In other words, q
man wholly ruled by selfishness.is dan
gerous to his fellows in proportion III
his education and enlightenment IIc
knows, better than his heather neigh
Dor, how to take advantage of the cir.
cumstances and conditions of life. fol
he is lifted mentally TO higher plane.
Conditions Now Changing.
Saint Paul in our text declares that
God has predetermined times asso,
ciated with His dealings with the III.
tons and in bringing to them the Cos
pei. We have already considered the
Divine order and time in association
with the call of the elect Church-a
little fock"-called out of every ma
ton, people, kindred and tongue, to
be the Redeemer's associates in the
Messianic Kingdom which is to bless
Israel and all the nations. We be-
lieve that this election of the Church
class is about complete and that soon
thereafter Gods Kingdom, the reign
of righteousness. the worlds Judgment
Day. will begin.
1t should not surprise us. therefore.
to find great changes imminent
amongst the peoples of tue whole
world. The bounds Of human habita-
lions and the barriers Of language are
rapidly yielding because of the other
times of Divine appointment which
have been reached. viz. the period
mentioned in Daniels prophecy as the
Time Of the End" Daniel xii. H.
And here we must remind you afresh
that the Time of the End does not
mean the end Of time. 1t merely sig
nifies the time for the ending of the
present order Of things. that new Or
der Of things. the Messianic Kingdom.
may be substituted. twenty-five cen
turies ago God determined this time
and appointed it and gave us four very
important proofs by which TO identify
1t. Let us examine these.
a. The first sign of the Time OF the
End was TO be. Many shall run to and
fro" How wonderfully this prophecy
is fulfilled before our eyes today! Its
fulfilment has been i'll progress, espe
cially for fifty years. And it is less
than eighty years since the first loco
motive was built. The nations, first
separated by diverse languages. kept
we'll within the bounds of their habita-
lions for many centuries until now !;