Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1912-05-01

have asked, Were |
any of the 1900 who perished sdfntsf |
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 q Catholic
Purgatory of terror. or worse, to a
Protestant hell 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
fess 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. going
down into Christless grdres." the Lon
don Missionary Society" truly says.
but means and Is understood to mean
into Christless 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-elect to an
earthly salvation TO human perfection,
In the new Paradise Earth-which
Messiah's Kingdom will usher in.
Thus, only the toiIfUlly toicked will
ever be annihilated.
But our old errors die hard; because
we have twisted the Bible to fit them.
For instance, let us consider st. Pet
er's words:-"Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the Just for the I'M
just, that He might bring us to God.
e 1,x,e
Quickened In the spirit, by which two
experiences-death and resurrection
He preached unto the spirits in prison"
q Peter Ill., 10, 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, 1t would be i'm
possible to preach to the dead humans.
Spirits Once Disobedient.
st. Peter tells us the time of the dis
obedience OF these spirits-''in the days
OF Noah. while the ark was preparing.
Turning to Genesis vi, 10, we find
there the cause OF the dlsobedience OF
these angels who for q time had beer
permitted to see what they could dc
for the uplift Of humanity, or. rather
permitted to demonstrate that tn,
downward tendency OF sin is incur
able except in the manner which Go,
has already arranged for through Mes
siah and His reign Of 1000 years.
The particular sin OF those angel
was that when they were granted
the privilege Of materialiZing-Of tax
ing human bOdies-fOr the sake OF help
ing and instructing mankind-they mis-
used this power and took to themselve
wives
The offspring Of this improper unto
were giants" both physically an
q mentally superior to the fallen huma
family-''men of renown." The rae
thus In several centuries became :
corrupt that apparently only Noah an
his family were left uncontaminatcd.
, 1t was then and there that God in
prisoned these spirits CANCELS, WI
O. kept not their first estate'O, and al
o therefore called fallen angels, devil
demons. They were not imprisoned
some far-Off world called hell, nor al
they engaged there in stocking fires
or The record Is that God east the
down, that they might not longer ass
ciate with the holy angels, but must
reserved in tarfdrus-Our earth's atmo
phere.-Jude 6; III Peter ii, 4, 3.
When imprisoned or cut off from Il
privilege OF naturalization, many
the fallen spirits continued their acti
opposition to God, like Satan, and a
v spoken of as his angels.
y How Jesus Preached In Death.
Here arises another question:
: Jesus really died, as the Scriptures {
clare; II "He poured out His soul n,
death and made His soul an Offering
sfn," and His soul was not raised frC
the dead until the third day after
crucifixiOn, how could He In the mes
time preach to spirits In prison, OF
anybody else? We reply that He COZ
preach in the same way that the APP
tie refers to. saying, abel, being de
yet speaketh" Hebrews II, A..
But when they perceived His res
rection on the third day to glory, h
or and Immortality c'far above ang,
principalities and pOwers'O, His S
mon to them was complete. name
that 1.-THE wages OF sin IL death"
"the gift OF God 10 eternal II
Romans vi, 23). And as they reali
thus the Power Of God and the L
Of God for His human creatures,