Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-02-17
Pastor RusselEs Sermon

a., w Our race VIII come through
tne Seed Of Abraham-The Christ
The giving Of His Son to be mans
kedeemer and Deliverer from sin and
death was Gods blessing to man.
making man rich, Messiah, having
died for the redemption of the world
is about to bestow upon men the nj.
vine blessing promised to Abraham
In thee and in thy Seed shall all the
families of the earth be blessed"
That blessing to the non.elect world
VIII be glorious opportunity for ris-
ing up out of sin and death conditions
TO full human perfection In the image
and likeness Of God-as Adam DOS
sessed this before his fall. 1t will
mean the bringing Of the earth to the
conditions pictured in Eden. The earth.
God declares, He formed not in vain,
but to be inhabited. At present man
is In condition of enmity and sep
aration from His Creator and his earth.
ly home is dlsordered. Gods foot
stool, for six thousand years, has been
the scene of terrible reign of Sin and
Death.
Why the Delay In the Removal Of Sin
and Death2
The only hope is in Messiah's King
dom, which God has promised shall
be established for the overthrow Of
Satan, the abolishlng Of ignorance and
superstition, the enlightenment of man
kind and the uplift of all the willing
and obedient and for the destruction
of the wilfully wicked in the Second
Death But before the Kingdom
could be established redemptive work
was necessary for the satisfaction Of
Justice on behalf Of Adam, the sin
ner, and his race involved with him.
BY the grace of God Jesus has appear
ed and, as a corresponding price, has
died, the Just for the unjust, that He
might bring us back into harmony with
God and bring In the glorious and long
promised thousand years Of restitution.
Acts Ill, 1921
Eighteen centuries ago Jesus accom-
plished His redemptlve work and was
rewarded, In His resurrection. with
glory, honor and immortality. Ever
since then He is at the right hand of
Jehovah God, merely awaiting the Dl-
vinely ordained time when He shall
take unto Himself His great power
and reign. OF that time we read
prophetlcally, "Ask of Me. and | will
give Thee the heather for Thine in
herltance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for Thy possession" psalm
II, 81
But why so long a delay between
the time when He appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself
and the time when He shall appear In
His glory to establish the reign Of
righteousness and lift up the world Of
mankind for whom He died? The
Bible alone answers this question, and
oh, how much we are interested In its
answerl 1t tells us that In this In
terim between the death Of the Savior
and the Inauguration of His Kingdom
a special and great work is to be ae-
complshed according to the Divine
arrangement-the calling and the
choosing of faithful few from
amongst the redeemed race to constl-
tute a Royal Priesthood, TO serve and
reign In association with the Savior.
These heirs Of God and jolnt-helrs
with Jesus Christ our Lord are va
rlously described In the Scriptures.
Under one figure they are spoken Of
as being members Of the Body Of
which He Is the Head Thus Is shown
the oneness of Christ and His faithful
followers. In another picture Jesus
Is spoken of as the heavenly Bride
groom, and the Church is described ms
His espoused. At the second coming
of Jesus His espoused virgin Church
is to be made alive from the dead and
thus to be married to the Bridegroom
and become His Bride and jolnt-helr
to the glory, honor and Immortality
which are His by virtue of the heav-
enly Fathers arrangement and Of the
savlor's worthlness-fal unto
death, even the death Of the Cross.
How Rich We Shall Be Madel
Thus seen, God. the Fountain Of ev-
cry good and every perfect gift, pro
poses, first, to make rich the Church,
the Elect Of this Gospel Age Theirs
I will be heavenly riches a spirit nature,
glory, honor, with our Redeemer-"faT
above angels, principalties and pow
ers and every name that Is named.'
The blessing of the Lord will make
these rich indeed, and after they shall
have entered into the riches Of this re
ward, IN the First Resurrection, they
will be absolutely perfect. God will
add no sorrow to that completed bless
ing. All the imperfections Of the pres
ent will be past and we shall be IKE
our Redeemer and share His glory and
see Him as Hc is.
And as for the world, we have al
ready seen that God is waiting to be
gracious to all who will accept His "a
vors. He is waiting for the compile
ton Of the Church of the First-born
who constitute "a kind Of frstfruits
INTO God Of His creatures Games J.
18. He is waiting for the Kingdom
Class to be fully selected. fully devel
oped. fully shaped and polished In the
Redeemers likeness before bestowine
the blessing upon mankind through
natural Israel. The blessing Of the
world will require a thousand years FOL
, its outpouring upon every nation peo
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