The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-07-26

seem that this would keep the Redeem
er busy coming and departing every
few minutes?
Only Grass. ignorance Of the Bible
could excuse any such misapplication
of its teachings. Not merely one state
| ment Of the Scriptures bears upon this
subject. but hundreds of statements Of
Scripture. by Jesus and the Apostles:
and all contradict any such thought.
"No Man Hath Assembled to Heaven"
Hearken to Jesus words, No man
hath assembled up to Heaven" Only
the Son of Man has ever been In heav-
en-. He has assembled up where He was
before, with additional glory and hon
or. He is now preparing a place for
His Bride class and preparing the
Bride class for the place-the place Of
honor at His own right hand. He Is
overseeing her experiences and causing
all things to work together for her
good. that she at His Second Coming
may be prepared and be accepted as
His Bride and granted a share in His
glory. honor and Immortality.
1t is In full harmony with this that
a little later on the Great Teacher de-
! clared that all the dead are in the
grave. and that at His second advent
He will first call forth His faithful
ones to the perfection of life: and later
will call forth the remainder of man.
kind. not as yet found worthy Of life.
that they may have an opportunity. a
testing as respects their worthiness or
unworthiness of everlasting life on the
human plane.
Hear His assurance again respecting
His faithful ones-that they shall share
In His resurrection. the Chief Resurrec-
! ton. to glory. honor. Immortality. on
the spirit plane. He said. Blessed and
| holy are all they that have part in the
, First Resurrection: they shall be
reign with Him thousand years"
Be it noted that in all these assur-
anceS the Church is spoken of as a
| class. all Of whom will enter into glory
together. at Christ's second coming,
and not separately. rs e"ch may die.
True. each has an individual trial or
testing to determine whether or not he
or she will he accounted worthy. or
fitted for place in the glorious Body
of Christ. in the glorious Bride COM
pany. but the statement is repeatedly
made that We shall be 0lorifed together.
shall have part in the one resurrection
David Not Assembled to Heaven"
In full accord with all the foregoing
is St Peters statement on the Day Of
Pentecost: For David is not ascend
ed into the heavens: his sepulchre is
with us unto this day" st. Peters
words imply that if King David had
assembled to Heaven he would have no
sepulchre on earth. Similarly. We
might say of all Of the Prophets. and
of all other persons that. if once they
assembled to the heavenly plane. they
could not be said to have any sepul-
chre on earth. for the very thought
connected with the word sepulchre is
that of personality awaiting resur-
rection. awaiting deliverance from the
state and condition Of death. So the
Scriptures always refer. not to resur-
rectiOn Of the living. which would be
an absurdity. but to a resurrection of
the dead
Note the connection in which the
Apostle Peter uses this expression:
David is not assembled into the heav-
ems" He had just called attention to
the fact that David prophesied of the
resurrection Of Jesus. In the prophecy
he personated Jesus. and said. "Thou
wilt not leave My soul in sheof thades,.
nor suffer Thine Holy One to see cor
ruption." st. Peter argues that this
was not true Of David. that he did see
corruption. that his soul ,oas left In
sheol. and is still there. and will not be
reclaimed until Messiah. in the resur-
rection morning. shall call him forth.
"Be With Me In Paradise" b..
But. says some one. did not the dy-
ing thief go with Jesus to Paradise
the very day in which they both died?
And if so. does not this prove that all
in harmony with God go to heaven
when they die. whatever may be the
condition of others in death?
No. we have made stupid hlunder
and misinterpretation of our Redeem
er's dying words to the thief. The
wrong thought being in our minds we
misinterpreted In harmony Herewith.
And our Interpretation has done an
immense amount of harm. Thousands
Of people have been encouraged to
continue life of sin. trusting that
with their dying breath they may have
the opportunity of saying. God be
merciful to me-" and then be immedi-
ately ushered into glory. honor and
Immortality. as joint-heirs with the
Savior. and in as honorable station
as those who have fought to win the
prize and sailed through bloody seas"
Of trial. persecution and selfdenial.
What travesty Of Justice to sup
pose such an application of this prin-
ciple! For instance. two ungodly per
sons quarrel. Both draw revOlvers
the worse Of the two, Hves uoueur,
In which he says. God, be merciful to
me-" Then. theoretically, he passes
into glory. while his victim. not hav-
ing the opportunity for cry for mer-
cy. we are told by the same theory,
Is doomed to endless torture.
/ Note the circumstance. Jesus hung
between two thieves, one of whom
joined with the multitude in railing at
Him as an imposter, crying out, "Yes.