The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-06-20

have asked. Were
any of the 1900 who pcrished saintst
And assured that very few OF them
would have claimed to be saints. we
would have concluded that all the re-
mainder plunged down to n Catholic
Purgatory Of terror. or worse, to
Protestant he'll of eternal torture.
Even the tales of their great gal
lantry and heroiSm would not have
altered the decision which would have
hung on the question. Did they con-
fcss Jesus In word and deed? we
would have asked. Were they church
members: This Is the same argument
used respecting the 10000 heather
who die every day in the year. "soiny
down into ChristleSs g,urcx." the "Lon-
don Missionary Society" truly says.
but means and is understood to mean
into ChristlcSs eternal torture!
Now. how different! Now we see
that a faithful. elect Church Is being
selected during this Age: that in the
next Age they with Jesus may assist.
bless. uplift all the non-clect to an
earthly salvation to human perfection,
in the new -Eartl,-which
Messiah's Kingdom will usher in.
Thus. only the wiltnllv nickcd will
ever he annihiatcd.
But our old errors die hard; because
we have twisted the Bible to fit them.
For instance. let us consider st. Pet
ers words:-"Christ also hath once
suffered for sins. the Just for the un,
just. that He might bring us to Gcd.
being put to death in the flesh. but
quickened in the spirit by which wo
experiences-dcatl and resurrection
He preached unto the spirits in prison
Il Peter Ill. IS. 19).
This text has been made the basis
for some very peculiar presentations.
The difficulty in every case seems to
be the failure to remember that the
Bible always and everywhere teaches
that the dead are really dead. that
they will know nothing until the reSur-
rection. Therefore. it would he inn
possible to preach to the dead humans
Spirits Once Disobedient.
st. Peter tells lis the time Of the dis
obedience of these spiri,S-'in the days
OF Noah. while the ark was preparing
Turning to Genesis vi. l-o. we find
there the cause of the diSobedicncc Of
these angels who for time had been
permitted to see what they could do
for the upift of humanity. or. rather.
permitted to demonstrate that the
downward tendency of sin is incur
able except in the manner which Col
mas already arranged for through Mes
siah and His reign of LOCO years.
/ The particular sin of those angels
was that when they were granted
the privilege of matcrializing tax
ing human bodies-for the sake of help
ing and instructing mankind they mis-
used this power and took to themselves
wives.
I The offspring of this improper union
were giants" both physically and
mentally superior to the fallen human
family-"men of renown." The race
thus in several centuries became SO
corrupt that apparently only Noah and
his family We're left uncontaminated.
/ 1t was then and there that God i'm
| rrisoncd these spirits r'angels. who
kept not their first estate''). and are
therefore called fallen angels. devils.
demons. They werc not imprisoned in
some far-otf world called hell. nor are
they engaged there IN stoking fires.
The record is that God cast them
down. that they might not longer asSo-
ciatc with the holy angels. but must be
reserved in t0rt0rus earth's atmos-
pherc.-Judc G: III Peter ii. j.
/ When imprisoned or cut off from the
privilege of naturalization, many of
the fallen spirits continued their active
opposition to God. like Satan. and are
spoken of as his angels.
How Jesus Preached In Death.
Here arises another question: If
Jesus really died. as the Scriptures de-
rlarc: if nc poured ont His soul INTO
death" and 'made His soul an offering for
sin" and His soul was not raised from
the dead until the third day after His
crucifXion. how could He in the mean
time preach to spirits in prison. or to
anybody else: We reply that He could
preach in the same way that the Apos-
tie refers to. saying, "Abcl. being dead,
yet speaketh' UIebrcwS ri. A..
But when they perceived His resllr-
rcction on the third day to glory. hon
or and immortality t''fnr above angels.
nrincipalitics and rowcrs''), His ser
mon to them was complete. namely.
that "thc wages of sin is DEATH" but
the gift of God is eternal life
Romans Vi. 23'. And as they realized
thus the Power of God and the Love
or God for His human creatures, the
Apostles words imply that this con
Etitntcd to them q message If hnno